Dangerous
by Stratusfied247
Summary: Working as a PI, Sam finds herself on a path that will pit her against the dark side of her family. With Jason at her side, she needs to worry about more than the safety of her family. The safety of her heart is at risk, too.
1. Chapter 1

Sam checked her clip; full. She slammed it into the butt of her Px4 Storm. The gun was new, sleek and her hand molded around the grip. Seventeen bullets, sixteen in the clip and one in the chamber as she pulled back the slide and let it snap shut. Two more clips in her jacket. If she needed more than fifty-one bullets, she was going to be in trouble... or at least, more trouble than she already saw coming her way.

This was supposed to be a simple job, watch a guy, report back to his wife. The watching was easy. Sam sat in the car most of the time, her nails drumming along the steering wheel. He went in, he came back out hours later. He was always cagey when he walked into the grand hotel in downtown Manhattan. He looked right, then left when he got out of the car. He paused before handing the keys to the valet. He looked left, then right before going into the hotel.

Sam watched him for two weeks and never once saw him with a woman other than his wife. He was up to something, but not what the missus suspected. This guy wasn't having an affair. Sam reported that back to his wife. She had promptly coughed up more money and told Sam to find out what he was doing. That's when it got hard.

Sam slid her shiny new gun into its new gray holster and looked in the mirror. The gun hung easily at her hip. A swipe toward the back, and she could flip the catch and pull the gun. The gun on her hip would call for her duster instead of her leather jacket. The jacket was just too short to cover the gun, and the last thing she needed was for someone to call her out. She had her PI's license, and she had a license to carry. She just didn't want the hassle of being held up by questioning police.

"What am I doing?" Sam muttered as she ran her hands through her hair. She pulled her hair back from her face and twisted her lips, pushing her mouth toward the side. "This is a really bad idea," she said. "Just give the lady back her money and tell her that you don't want anything to do with this."

Except Sam did want to know what was going on. After weeks of watching, planting recording devices in the guy's office, listening to phone calls, she was curious. This guy was into something dangerous, and she should stay away from it. Too bad Sam seemed to go diving headfirst into any and everything dangerous. It was a complex, a disease, and both her mother and her cousin had told her so.

Oddly enough, Alexis and Nikolas had been supportive of Sam's decision to be a private investigator. They both probably figured that her job would be chasing cheating spouses and hidden bank accounts. Neither thought that it would include new hardware and a knot in Sam's stomach as she thought about going out the door, following the trail, finishing the tough jobs. Now, they would probably beg her not to go any further. If she gave them the chance, she might agree with them, she might listen.

Listening would have been the smart thing to do. After all, this was going nowhere but bad places. Sam wished that Kevlar vest had come in. She needed it sized specially for her frame, big enough to cover her full breasts but tapered at her tiny waist. That was going to take some time, and when she first put the order in, she thought she had time before she was going to need it. With her luck, the damn thing would show up tomorrow after she was already gone.

Sam dropped her hair around her shoulders and cocked her head to the side. "Why am I so damn nosy, huh?" She grunted and put her hands on her hips. "Nosiness is definitely not a Cassadine trait." She had picked up all the others, why couldn't she pick up that one?

Maybe she should have taken Nikolas up on his job offer. He'd pay her a retainer, and when trouble came knocking at the door of his big stone palace, she would make sure that he, Spencer and Nadine were safe. She would be in charge of his personal security. That was one hell of a thing to put on a resume. Head of a bona fide prince's security. It would have been enticing if Sam thought the job would actually be needed. No one had heard from Helena Cassadine in ages, and Nikolas didn't get into quite as much trouble, anymore. She'd have been a highly paid, glorified babysitter. Even Nikolas could see the realization in her eyes, and he knew that she wasn't going to take him up on it.

Three hard knocks came at her door and Sam jumped. "Open up, Sam!" She relaxed at the voice. She knew this was one person that wasn't going to hurt her. Only when her hand brushed her thigh did she realize that she had moved to grab her gun. She wasn't going to need it.

Sam walked the few brisk steps to the front door, her heels clicking against the hard wood floor. She opened the door, and the disapproving face that met her squelched any excitement about his arrival. "I got a call from Alexis, because Nikolas called and told her that you told him you'd be out of town for a few days. You've got a new gun on your hip. What are you into?"

Sam almost told him that he didn't have a right to care about what she did anymore. He was the one that broke up with her, after all. Hadn't he fallen in love with someone else? Of course, that wasn't the way to go about things when she thought that maybe he was falling in love with her all over again, or maybe realizing that he'd never stopped loving her in the first place. Sam and Jason were meant to be together, after all. They were right for each other. Who else would have noticed that she had a new gun strapped to her hip?

"I'm on a case," she said, taking a step back. Jason stalked past her and Sam swung the door shut behind him. "Sometimes, cases take me out of town. I really wish Nikolas would stop."

"Stop what? Caring about you?"

"Yes, actually. I can handle myself." Sam folded her arms and her back went stiff. She was a big girl. She had handled herself in situations a lot worse than this one, and that was long before she ever met Jason Morgan, long before she came to Port Charles, New York. "It's not even anything major. I just wanted Nikolas to know in case he came by or something and I wasn't here."

"And you weren't going to tell me?"

"Why would I tell you?" she asked. "Do I have to check in whenever I do my job?"

"What if you need back up, huh? If I don't even know where you're going, how can I help?"

Sam wanted to scream. Sometimes, he frustrated her so much. There were times like these when he acted like nothing had changed, like neither of them had ever done anything and they had never broken up. They were nice moments until Sam compared them with the near misses and the almost kisses, the times when Jason backed off, ran away from her, reminding her that life wasn't the way that it used to be, reminding her that they were no longer the Bonnie and Clyde of Port Charles.

"I'm just checking something out," Sam said with a heavy sigh. "There was this guy—" Why was she even telling him about this? It was none of his business. This was exactly why she'd talked to Nikolas instead of Alexis. She knew that her mother would go straight to Jason. Alexis may have hated the idea of her daughter being anywhere near the known criminal, but she knew that if anyone had a chance of talking Sam out of something crazy, it was Jason. She also knew that if he couldn't talk her out of it, he'd go with her, or at least he would give it a shot.

"This guy," Sam said, "was supposed to just be cheating on his wife. Easy case, easy money, right? Except, he's not cheating on his wife. He's doing something dirty, and she wanted me to find out what it was. Then, I followed him coming into Port Charles, twice, and he went to the Zacchara place and talked to somebody there. Once, I saw him standing out on the docks staring out at the water. So, obviously, this guy has something to do with them and shipments, right?"

"You need to stay away from the Zacchara organization."

Sam watched his jaw tighten. It still bothered Jason that Sonny had taken over the Zacchara family, and if she found anything out about them, it was going to go back on him. Maybe, maybe not. She'd not seen the guy meet with Sonny. He met with either Anthony or Trevor. But, still, it might go back to Sonny, and in that case, Jason would have to do something about it. Just another reason that Sam had kept him out of it until she had more information.

"I am staying away from the Zaccharas," she told him. "That's why I'm following the guy. I'm not gonna get anything here, but I can get something from him. Jason, the guy's twitchy and has no idea what he's involved in. He's afraid of his own shadow. I put this gun in his face and he'll tell me whatever I want to know."

Jason stared at her for a second, one quick heartbeat, then said, "I'm going with you."

"You can't! I mean, you've got an organization to run. You have things to do here. You can't just go with me."

"Bernie and Diane can handle anything here, and if they need me, they can call me. I'm going with you."

Sam's eyes narrowed. Was he always so pushy, or was she just now realizing it? Probably the latter. Except for his sudden ability to lie like a damn pro, Jason hadn't changed much over the years. She wasn't going to get out of taking him with her. Either they walked out of her house together, or he followed her along the way. Funny how things changed. Hadn't there been a time when the roles were reversed, when Sam would have been the one putting her foot down and threatening to follow? Oh, how life changes.

"Fine," she said, "but it's my case, and I'm calling the shots. You're just going for back up."

"Just back up."

"I mean it, Jason. You step on my toes, I'll take off and you won't find me until I come back to town." Sam groaned and let her arms fall to her sides. "Now," she said, "lets get going. I know where he'll be for the next twenty-four hours. If I lose him, there's no telling when I'll get this chance again."


	2. Chapter 2

Sam conceded to the car, only because her long duster would get easily tangled on her motorcycle, and the last thing she needed was an accident. She even let Jason drive, because it made him stop bitching. Okay, she was being harsh. She just didn't feel like doing the drive. It would be well into the night when they made it to the city, and though Sam had done the drive time and again over the past few weeks, she didn't want to that night. She just wasn't up for it.

"How did you get the bugs on the guy?"

Sam groaned and turned her head toward him. "Guess." Jason groaned in response, and Sam repeated her own. Neither of them really wanted to bring Spinelli into things, but there was no one else to turn to now that Stan was gone. Sam had gotten in to plant the bugs, but it was Spinelli that made everything work. That kid was a whiz. And yes, he was over eighteen, but Sam couldn't think of him as anything else but a kid. He was of age in years, but personality-wise, Spinelli needed to be taken care of, which made it all the worse, because weren't they really just taking advantage of him? He wanted to please, he wanted to help, but still, as the adults, Sam and Jason should have told him no.

"Think Maxie will keep him out of trouble while I'm gone?" Jason asked.

Sam barked a rough laugh. "Yeah, right. More like Maxie will get him into trouble. Though, it'll be nothing like the trouble he could get into otherwise."

"He really likes her," Jason said, his voice soft and solemn. Jason eased into the exit lane. Most of the ride had been silent, with only music to fill the gap, the occasional CD that Sam popped into the radio. Now, when Jason finally had something to say, the conversation was about Spinelli. He was the only person the two of them had in common, anymore.

"Maxie's not used to his kind of guy," Sam said with a shrug. "Spinelli's a nice guy, and Maxie usually dates assholes. Not only is Spinelli not an asshole, he's actually her friend. She's afraid to lose that."

"If she'd give him a chance, a real chance, maybe he'd get into less trouble, maybe he'd listen when I tell him to stay out of something instead of charging in, anyway."

"Sex ruins a lot, and what sex doesn't ruin, relationships finish off. At least she has a friend."

Sam only looked at Jason for a moment before turning her head to the window. She watched the tunnel come up on them instead of watching Jason. They had been friends, once. Granted, they'd been damn near mortal enemies in the beginning, but at some point, they became friends. When they became more is when things started to fall apart, when she had to wonder if the good had outweighed the bad. And now...

Were they friends, again? There was so much bad blood that Sam had thought friendship would never be possible. He was here, though. Alexis told him that Sam might have been in trouble, and Jason showed up. Even when they were still enemies again, he always seemed to show up when she was in trouble. He always seemed to know when she was going to be in trouble. When she told them that the Text Message Killer was still out there, had chased her, hadn't he been the only one to believe her?

Sam shook her head. There was no used thinking about things, because they made her want to say things. She wanted to tell him that, for all the wrong he'd done, he had spent way too long acting as though he'd never done anything wrong. She wanted to ask him when he started lying, when he learned that special little trick. She wanted to know why, now. Why, after everything, had he come back to her side? Was it just because Elizabeth had gone back to her true love? He was alone and he went back to the familiar. Or, had he realized that while Elizabeth had her true love, he had his as well, and Sam was it? Of all the questions she had for Jason, that was the one she was most afraid to ask. If she got the wrong answer, Sam couldn't be his friend, anymore. She couldn't be anything to him, anymore.

"You know," Sam said, "the fact that you're here means that nothing is going to happen." She rolled her eyes as he chortled. "Seriously, I have backup, so I won't need it. If you were back in Port Charles, all hell would break loose."

"We can both hope."

Maybe. One thing Nikolas had been telling her lately was true. Sam was an adrenaline junkie. She'd lived so long on the high of danger that she couldn't go more than a few months before the bug bit her and she needed to find something to get into. She never really had to look that hard when she was with Jason, though. Trouble tended to find him eventually, and if Sam was there, she was pulled into it. Okay, so sometimes she forced herself into it. She wasn't used to sitting back and waiting to be rescued. She wasn't used to hiding until the danger was over. Sam liked to get in there, get her hands dirty, and usually, eventually, Jason let her in. As long as she didn't get hurt, everything was fine.

But, she did get hurt that last time. And the fuck of it? She hadn't even done anything! Sam was being a good girl! She was dressed up all nice and pretty and... she didn't even do anything!

Sam shook thoughts away, again. She took her thoughts off the past and put them on the present. She directed Jason to the hotel that she used when she followed her mark into town. When they came out of the tunnel, they would stay away from where he stayed, on the upper west side, and go to as close as Manhattan had to slums. It was busy enough that she wouldn't be remembered as anything other than random hot short chick with dark hair, and not so busy that she would stand out in her leather and jeans like a sore thumb amidst the upper class.

"So, who is this guy, anyway?" Jason asked, and Sam felt the sigh of relief before it actually came past her lips. She was more comfortable talking about the case. It was the one thing they could talk about that wouldn't lead her mind to the past. The case was the here and now, and it was the firm, resolute reason that Jason had shown up on her doorstep.

"Jesse Damien," Sam told him. "Regular guy, by all accounts. Aging stock broker who moved to Port Charles to get away from the buzz of the city. Guess he thought a little town like ours would be less hectic than the big city."

Both of them laughed, appreciating the humor of that. Port Charles was just a little town in New York. Right, if you didn't count the mob activity and the unusual level of disaster that hit the town. At least twice a year, something blew up and needed to be rebuilt. It was safer living in the city.

"I didn't find anything that traced him back to the Zaccharas, but he's obviously got some connection to them. He does most of his work from home, but he did enough that, for a while, his wife wasn't bothered by the time he spent away from home. She started to get worried after a while, though, and she brought me in."

"Just another cheating husband."

"You'd think, and I was pretty sure that was it for the first few days. I was ready to give the whole thing up until I saw him meeting with the Zaccharas." Sam sighed and leaned her head against the window. She'd been avoiding looking at Jason for most of the trip, and that wasn't going to change, now. They cleared the tunnel, and now Sam's eyes were on the lights and people of the city instead of the lights and brick wall inside the tunnel.

"You didn't call Sonny," she said, "when I told you about the Zaccharas."

"I don't work for Sonny, anymore. I don't need to call him."

He wouldn't call him. Sam knew that it was hard for them to be on the outs, but she kept expecting Jason to fold. She knew Sonny well enough to know that he wasn't going to give in. He had made a stand, and it was up to Jason to respond. He might not be up for taking out his former best friend, yet, but Jason wasn't going to give up the hold that he had on the organization. He wouldn't admit it, but Sonny knew that Jason liked being in charge. Who wouldn't? He was uneasy about it at first, but he either had or would find his footing. He'd grow to love it. He may not obsess over it like Sonny had, but he wasn't going to give it up.

"Anyway," Sam said, "that's the gist of it. The guy is up to something, and I want to know what it is."

"And what are you planning to do when you find out?"

"Stop it," she said with a shrug. "And don't ask me how, because I don't know. I just know that I have to."

"Why do you have to?"

"Because there are too many people in charge that I care about to let something bad happen. Sure, lots of stuff happens all the time in Port Charles, but this is something I may be able to actually stop. I can't let people get hurt if I can do something about it."

"And what if it's not anything that will get anyone hurt? Anyone outside of the business, that is."

Sam bit her lip so hard that, had she not realized what she was doing, she would have drawn blood. What if she found out that it was purely a takeover type of thing? Sure, the Zaccharas were an unsteady people, but with Sonny at the helm, it would be no different than it had been before. A takeover would have just hurt Jason. Alexis and Nikolas and everyone she cared about in Port Charles would have been safe... except Jason.

A takeover would mean that he'd possibly be killed. What would she do in that situation? Sam wished she could say that it would be none of her business, but she knew better. The second she had the slightest hint that someone could be coming for him, she would have called him. They'd have ended up in this mess together, anyway, because she would have alerted him, and then just as he had her back now, she would have had his back then. Life just loved to throw the two of them together.

Jason pulled up in the lot of the hotel and Sam had the door open before the car even stopped. "I'll get us a room," she said, running toward the door. Maybe, by the time she got the room and they were inside, he would have decided to drop this line of conversation. Then, Sam would only have to deal with spending the night in the same hotel room as Jason. For a second, she almost preferred the current conversation. It had to be easier than what was to come.


	3. Chapter 3

Sam stared down into her bag and really wished she'd repacked after Jason said he was coming. Despite the way she'd lived for quite some time, a hotel wasn't her home, so she didn't pack as though she were going home. Pajamas consisted of a tank top and whatever panties she'd been wearing that day. It was easy in case she over slept and didn't have time to shower in change. It was convenient when she came in too tired to get changed. She usually had a tank top on underneath, anyway, so she could just peel off her clothes and fall onto the bed.

Jason being there, though, Sam was unsure that her usual out of town sleeping attire was appropriate. She could always just take off her shoes and crawl into bed with her clothes on. She'd done that before, too, when she was too tired to even take the outer layers off. It would be uncomfortable, but at least she would be covered up.

Sam groaned. Why was she even thinking about it? Not like Jason hadn't seen her in less before. Though, that was probably the reason why she thought about it. He had seen her in less and seeing her in that, well... Things could get complicated. Not that Jason didn't have any self control. It was more like Sam didn't know how much she'd have. If even a flicker of anything passed across his face...

Fuck it. She was tired and she had a long day ahead of her. Sam wanted sleep, and she was going to get it the most comfortable way possible. She stripped down to her panties, then pulled a black tank top out of her bag. She threw on the top, then folded the rest of her clothes enough for them to fit in the back. She took a look at herself in the mirror and sighed. She really should have found a way to keep Jason from coming with her.

Backup, he was supposed to be, but did Jason know how to be backup? Sure, that's what he'd been for years with Sonny, but when it came to women, was he ever really backup? Even when Sam felt like she was taking the lead in the past, she knew deep down that he was just letting her do it until he thought things were getting out of control. This was Sam's thing, though, and sure as shit, he was going to be backup. He'd be backup or he'd take his ass back to Port Charles.

Sam let out a shaky breath. Fuck it, again. Fuck it all. She turned away from the mirror before she started talking to herself and opened the door. She kicked the bag out of the bathroom and stepped into the room. Now, she had two choices. She could run and get under the covers or she could act as though nothing was wrong.

"I call the bed," Sam said as she walked into the room. She'd been a little more rude when they were first handed the key. The only rooms available had king-sized beds. Really? This was how fate played with her? Fine. That time, it was a tart, "You. Floor."

Sam held on to her rage as a way to make herself forget that she was still in love with him, that even when she fought it, she was still in love with him. When they were in the middle of danger, when there were bullets and fire and God knows what else around them, there were other things to think about. She didn't have time for her mind to settle on their fucked up relationship. It was like old times and Sam let that go.

When they were alone, however, it was a different situation. Just the two of them, in a hotel room, without the threat of death upon them, Sam couldn't help but think about what could have been, and even worse, what could be if both of them felt the same thing at the same time. In a hotel room, with one big bed, with Sam in her underwear... Yeah, that was a recipe for disaster if ever there was one.

"I wasn't planning to take it." Jason sat in a chair by the door. He looked up at her and quirked an eyebrow. "Where are your clothes?"

"Now, you don't remember what I usually sleep in?" Sam said with a grunt. She sat down on the bed and sighed.

"I remember pajamas," he said.

"Actually," Sam said, "you remember your pajamas. I don't exactly get to sleep in those anymore, do I?"

Bitterness was good. Bitterness kept her from walking across the room and kissing him. Would he push her away? Possibly, but a part of Sam didn't think so. She thought that he would respond, and in a way, that would be worse than if he shoved her to the floor.

An emotion flickered past Jason's eyes, and Sam couldn't quite be sure what to call it. Anger, maybe, that Sam was trying to provoke a fight? She couldn't deny that she would enjoy a good fight before bed. There was a time in her life when she would have taken a nice bedtime fight just because that would be amazing bedtime sex. Now, she just wanted the fight because it was easier, it was something that she knew.

Or, maybe, it wasn't anger. Maybe, that emotion was pain with a touch of regret. He was the one that had started all of this, after all. He'd gone off on some strange tangent that he thought equalled love, and now look at him. That woman was back with her true love, and he was left to look at the mess that was made from his bad decisions.

Then again, it could have been apology. He knew how she liked to sleep in oversized pajamas. Oddly enough, it had nothing at all to do with the clothes having his scent on them. Jason never wore pajamas. He'd been given them as presents over the years, but they always just ended up in a box in the closet. The oversized shirts, even sometimes the pants with the waist rolled up, made her feel sexy. She was hiding something, and it would be a game to find it. Dressed as she was now, Sam showed everything, left very little to the imagination, something that supposedly Jason didn't have, anyway. In the oversized pajamas, however, she had the idea that maybe she was making him have some kind of imagination. If not an imagination, then he was working his memory, remembering what was under there before.

Eh, whatever. She was probably just projecting all of her own emotions onto him. These were all things that, at one time or another, she had wanted him to feel about their extinguished flame. She wanted him to be angry that they weren't together, that so much awful shit had been done and he hadn't even really owned up to his part of it all. She wanted him to hurt the way she had hurt and wanted him to regret that the one woman who really understood him wasn't his to have anymore. Sam wanted him to be fucking sorry that he made her trust someone, love someone, only to have it blow up in her face because she wasn't good enough.

Sam groaned. Nikolas would throttle her with his look of disdain and disapproval if he could hear her thoughts. She was a Cassadine, by God, and that made her good enough for everyone. That made all the men out there not good enough for her. How many times had he told her that she was a far better woman than she credited herself with being? One would think that, by now, it would have sunken in.

"Tomorrow's a big day," Sam finally said. "I know where he'll be and it's just a matter of making him talk. We can figure out the best way to do that tomorrow."

"How were you going to do it if I hadn't come with you?"

Sam raised a curious eyebrow as she said, "I was planning to get him at his hotel. He has a morning routine. He gets up and spends a ridiculous amount of time in line at Carnegie's Deli, then comes back for a few hours. Don't know what he does up there, but I figure it's a perfect time to get him talking."

"Then that's what we'll do," Jason said with a shrug. He slouched down in the chair and closed his eyes. "No need to discuss."

Sam thrust her tongue into her lower lip, left side, and stared. That was... too easy. She'd have to ask him about that if she still cared when they got up. No point in it now, though. Sleep was a necessity, after all. Sam slid beneath the covers and turned off the bedside lamp. Might as well get some sleep, because if the word tomorrow wasn't good, Sam wouldn't be getting too much sleep in the coming days.


	4. Chapter 4

His hand was warm on her hip, and that was the first thing that started Sam's eyelids to fluttering. The second was his voice, soft and smooth, the way she always remembered it to be. It was the voice from when he came home late at night, tired, dirty, and guilty of something. It was the voice when he laid down next to her, pulled her close to him and buried his nose in the back of her neck, burrowing into her hair. It was the voice that told her he was home, everything was alright, he loved her.

This time, the voice said, "It's time to get up, Sam." She groaned and rolled onto the side. She didn't wonder how his hand was on her hip when she'd gone to sleep burrowed beneath the covers. Sam wasn't always the most careful of sleepers, anyway. Unless she was burrowed tight against someone, she had a tendency to kick and toss. Obviously, Sam McCall was not meant to sleep alone.

"If you want to get a shower in, you'll have to get up now." That was Jason, forever practical. What did she have to be up for, anyway? Whatever it was, Jason could handle it. He always handled it.

Sam batted his hands away, but he kept on her. "Come on, Sam. Since when did you start oversleeping?"

When? Hm, that was a good question. She needed to be awake for something, it was at the back of her head. There was something she was supposed to be doing. In the hazy fog of just awake, Sam's mind wasn't in focus. Her purpose and intent was blurry, but one thing was absolutely clear. Okay, make that two things.

One, her stomach was in knots, which was a sure sign that something was going to end up not right at all. Call it ESP, women's intuition, whatever. Her body knew even if her consciousness didn't that the bed was the best place to be.

Two, as she rolled over, finally, and opened her eyes, waking up to Jason Morgan's crystal blue eyes was definitely not a horrible thing.

"Hey," she muttered, tossing an arm above her head. Her hand fell down onto her forehead. Sam's cheeks pulled with her slight, sleepy smile. "Was the chair comfortable?"

Jason snorted a laugh. "No," he said, "and neither was the floor."

"Did you sleep at all?"

"A little." Jason shrugged. Sam was awake now, and there was no reason at all for him to be sitting on the side of the bed, anymore, but there he was. His hand was still warm, growing hot, against her side, fingers curling beneath her to edge along her back. He looked down at her and Sam wanted to say something. She might have said something if he hadn't brought his other hand up to brush her hair out of her face.

God, how often had he done that in the past? And thinking of it as in the past is what made her brain kick into gear and clear the fuzzies. They had a guy to see about his Zacchara connections, a little intimidation to put out there. This was why she had to get up, and she really should have gotten up. But, Sam didn't get up, not right away.

Sam knew it was stupid as she did it. She reached up and rested her hand against the side of Jason's neck. His skin was warm and flushed, and grew warmer beneath her hand. His resting hand on her side turned into a gripping hand. Inwardly, Sam smirked. This could be useful, helpful, promising... It could be a whole lot of things that quite a few people would have something negative to say, two people in general. Though, did they really have a right to say anything? After all, Alexis was the one that sent Jason to her, and Nikolas was the one who told Alexis she was leaving for a while, and he full well knew that she'd call Jason. He just wouldn't do it himself because he hated him, but still...

"How did you sleep?" Jason asked her.

Sam's arm was starting to tire but she didn't pull it back. "I've slept better." _Want the truth? I slept like a log because I knew you were over there by the door, gun in hand, in case someone came in here. But, I sleep like a happy, contented bitch when you're laying right next to me. _Yeah, right, like she was going to tell him that.

"Sam, I..."

"Why are you really here, Jason?" Sam asked softly. "And don't tell me it's because my mother pressured you or because you were worried or anything else that's a lie. Tell me the truth."

"Why did you let me come with you?"

"You answer my question and I'll answer yours."

Jason went quiet, but not still. Slowly, his body inched forward and lower. Sam's eyes widened, then snapped shut, then opened slowly. He hovered over her, so close that when he spoke, his breath was warm against her lips. "We were good, Sam, like this. Together, side-by-side..."

"I'm not the one that ruined that," she reminded him. "No matter what else I did, I'm not the one that left."

"I know."

"So, why now? Why do you want me now?"

"That's two questions, and you haven't answered one."

"I let you come because I missed you." So easily put, but not a simple question to answer. That was just the first response. There were so many more that she might have said if they weren't in such close, intimate proximity. This was something that could have turned into one hell of an argument, but Sam didn't want to fight. She didn't want them to storm off to their corners and cool down. She wanted to heat up, but not to burn.

"This isn't the place for this," Jason said.

"I know," she told him.

"We have work to do."

"We do."

Jason surged down and their lips met, hard and crushing, blood pumping, pulsing their lips. Jason's hand tightened on her side. Sam's grip tightened on his neck. She opened her mouth to take in air and his tongue slid inside. A moan choked in her throat. Sam pushed up, still holding on, still connected. She pushed until he was sitting back and she could climb on him, straddle his waist.

She held on and didn't want to let go, couldn't let go, not right then. This was everything that she had missed, the passion and the touch of his hands on her body. Jason grabbed both of her sides, and Sam pushed herself down on his lap. She felt him waiting for her, wanting her. All she'd wanted was for him to want her again. Wanting her meant that he loved her, and that's what she had missed. She wanted him to want her so badly that he couldn't restrain himself. She wanted him to remember what she felt like, what they felt like together.

No, that wasn't it exactly. That's what her body wanted, and what her body told her mind to make it all okay, to make it make sense, to make her forget everything else. Love didn't equal sex. How many times had she had to tell herself that? Sam was good in bed, she knew that. She could bend and do tricks that would make even the most outrageous porn star jealous. Missing her body only meant that he wanted good sex. Wanting her body...

His hands left her body and though Sam never stopped kissing him, never stopping trying to crawl inside of his body, something inside of her went still. Did he not want this, anymore? Did he not...

His hands went to her face and Sam felt herself starting to cry. That's what Jason always did. His hands hovered on either side of her face, close enough to make her hair stand with the static electricity of his closeness. Then, slowly, his hands fell against her face, and that's when she thought, no she knew, that this wasn't just about the sex. It wasn't about her body, it was about her. Holding her body was what he did when they were friendly, falling for one another, needing each other. Holding her face was what he did when he loved her.

Sam left go of Jason's neck. She put her hands over his, and then she slowly pulled away. Her lips puckered and pushed, wanting the contact back. Sam pushed his hands forward, then pulled them together. She held his hands against her chest and let out a shaky breath. She was crying. Dammit! Why did she have to cry?

"Sam."

"We can't," she said around a sniffle. "Not now. Not like this."

"Because we have work to do," he said solemnly.

"Because if I say what I wanna say right now, in this place, I don't know how it's going to turn out." She put his hands down and slid off of his lap. Sam stood and she placed her fingers flat against his lips. "I missed you," she said softly. "I missed you and I think I need you more than is good because, well, we do have a job to do."

Sam slipped away, willing herself not to run away. Take a shower, shake it off, do the business and then... Fuck, and then she didn't know. She heard Jason behind her as she slipped into the bathroom. "That's what you wanted to say but couldn't?"

With a sigh, Sam said, "No," and closed the bathroom door. She pressed her head against the cheap wood and said, "I still love you."


	5. Chapter 5

"Nikolas, you need to leave." Sam stared out the window as the car pulled into the airport's long-term parking area. There wasn't time for them to make the drive all the way back to Port Charles. Jason had a chartered plane waiting for them and they would be back home in no time. "You need to get in touch with Alexis, pack up all the kids, and get the hell out of town, right now."

"I'm going to need more of an explanation than that," he said calmly, too calm in Sam's mind. Didn't he know what was going on! Of course, not, because she had called him with reason, without anything other than an order. Cassadines didn't do well with orders, especially not Cassadine princes.

She probably should have called him sooner. She should have called him the second that she and Jason left the hotel room, but her mind wasn't there, yet. Her mind had been stuck on blaming herself. If she'd only taken Nikolas's offer, she'd have been there to protect him. What if something happened before she and Jason made it back? She would never forgive herself.

Jason kept telling her that this wasn't her fault. He told her that, had she taken up Nikolas on his offer, she wouldn't have known anything was coming until it was too late. She wouldn't have been in a place to warn him and Alexis, to get her family out of town, or at least under some kind of cover before the devil came back to town.

He had a point, but it still took a while for Sam to calm down and come to her senses.

"Your grandmother is on her way back," Sam told him, "and she's getting help from the Zacharra family."

That was another issue that was going to have to come up. Sonny was running the Zacharra family. He would either have to admit that he was in on this whole thing, or he'd have to admit that someone in his family was doing something without his knowledge. If it were the latter, he'd have some explaining to do to the other families. If it was the former, he'd have explaining to do to Jason.

Sam wondered if that's why Jason was able to stay so calm. Was he redirecting all of his energy to keeping Sam under control so he didn't have to worry about his own issues? What was he going to do if Sonny had something to do with this? That would make him the biggest hypocrite in the world. It would make him scum.

Children were always supposed to be off limits, right? That's what he kept saying, especially since Michael had been shot. Sonny would have to know what Helena Cassadine was up to, her reason for coming back to Port Charles. She couldn't control Nikolas, so she would get her hands on Spencer and turn him against his father. She'd tried and failed to rid herself of Alexis, so she would rid Alexis of her children. How could he bring this woman back to town!

Sam was jumping ahead of herself. She didn't know that Sonny had anything to do with this. Maybe he'd just lost control of his people. This wouldn't be the first time that it had happened. He was always preoccupied with something. Balancing Claudia Zacharra and Kate Howard had to be daunting. Maybe he just didn't know, in which case, he got off the immediate hook but still had other things to deal with. They would be calling for his head or his retirement, whichever one gave the other families a leg up.

"What do you mean, Helena's back in town? And with Zacharra help?" Nikolas's confusion was tinged with disbelief. Sam didn't blame him. She could hardly believe it either.

"This case I was working on, the one that you and Alexis managed to get Jason to go with me on? And," she said quickly, "don't even bother denying it, I'm not stupid. Whatever. The guy I was following, I made him talk."

"Sam, what did you do?"

"He's not hurt. Pissed his pants a little, but he's not hurt." Sam jumped out of the car and slammed the door. Her boot heels clicked against the concrete floor as she and Jason hurried inside. "That's not what's important. The important part is what he said, what he's been doing. He's been funnelling money from the Zacharras to Helena."

"That doesn't mean she's coming back."

"She's coming, Nikolas. She's gotten connections in town, and now she's coming. I don't know when, but the guy said soon. He only handled the money. Someone else handles travel arrangements."

Nikolas took a breath so deep, Sam heard it clearly over the phone. This was all so outrageous, so unbelievable... so typically Cassadine. Sam had heard enough stories to know that the Cassadines invented family drama. If there was anything fun in it, they would have put the fun in dysfunctional. Helena was the worse, and she was poison.

Inside the airport, Jason veered Sam toward their terminal where the plane waited. "Look, I gotta go. We're flying in, and we'll keep the plane on standby so you can get everybody out."

"Sam, I can't—"

"Nikolas, please! Just get everyone together, okay? Have everybody ready to go by the time we get back to Wyndemere."

Sam closed the phone before he could say anything else and, for good measure, turned it off. Nikolas might try to call back, or worse, he might have Alexis try to call. She couldn't say the same things over and over again. Once was enough. Sam shoved the phone in her pocket and looked up at Jason. "This isn't right," she said.

"That guy is as good as dead," Jason said. There was no emotion in his voice, nothing showing that he felt one way or another about that. He probalby didn't. He was just stating a fact. Personally, Sam didn't give a shit. That's what you get when you go to bed with vipers.

"He shouldn't have gotten involved with them," she said with a sneer. "I'm not worried about him. I'm worried about my family."

"We're not going to let anything happen to them."

"You know what she's like. I haven't actually interacted with her, but I know enough. She won't go after Nikolas or Alexis. She'll go after Spencer, Molly and Kristina. Spencer, she'd probably just turn against Nikolas, which is bad enough, but Kristina and Molly..." Sam shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut, keeping the tears inside. When she was sure they wouldn't fall, Sam opened her eyes. "I won't let her get them," she told him. "I won't let her kill them."

"I promise you nothing will happen to them," Jason said. He stopped and stared at the security check point. "Shit," he muttered. He grabbed her wrist, and for a moment, all she thought about was his skin against hers, the kiss they had shared that morning. Horrible timing, she knew, but the contact was so fresh, so new.

She came to her senses and repeated his curse. They were both armed, and there was no way they were getting on the plane that way. "Okay," she said. "We go back to the car, get the bags out of the trunk. We just check the guns."

"That simple, huh?"

"Yep," she said, "that simple. We both have permits to carry in the state of New York, and it's not like we're taking them on board the plane."

"Except we're not checking any bags. We're on a private flight."

True. One would think that security in that area would be... Okay, so it's probably tighter, considering that people who could afford to do something bad could afford a private jet. "Okay, so we put them in the bags, we show our permits, and let them know that we drove in when they see the guns. As long as we declare them we're not doing anything wrong."

Already, they had driven without their guns secured, kidnapped a man, and threatened his life. They'd done enough wrong. At least this could be done right.

"Okay, but we've gotta make it quick," Jason said. "I don't think she's there yet, but we need to get to the Zacharras before they find out we know what's going on. Whoever did this is going to try and skip town the second it's found out." He didn't mention Sonny. He probably wouldn't mention him for a while.

"Nikolas won't wait forever," was Sam's agreement to the rushing. This was yet another thing she should have considered, but her mind just wasn't up to the task. Maybe Jason was right. Had she not had advanced warning about this, she wouldn't have been good to anyone.

"Okay," Sam said, "let's get the bags and then get back home. I just got this family, Jason. I'm not about to lose it, especially not to that bitch."


	6. Chapter 6

"You know, I really thought that by the time I got here, you'd have realized how absolutely right I am. I had really hoped to get here to find you already gone." Sam stood with her arms folded, her eyes narrowed. Jason got off the launch behind her and he bumped her back. She really wished that having him there made her feel better. Unfortunately, there really wasn't much of anything that was going to make her feel better right that moment.

"I can't run every time my grandmother comes to town," Nikolas told her. He ran a hand over his hair and back down his face. "Alexis and I can't pack up our children and run at the mention of her name."

"Well, you should." Sam grunted. "Obviously, this woman isn't all there in the head. She's a murderer."

"Believe me, Sam, I know my grandmother. I know what she's done and I know what she's capable of doing."

"They why won't you do anything?"

"Because I also know that she likes to draw these things out. I guarantee that the first thing she plans to do when she arrives is come here to Wyndemere and let me know that she's here. She wants us to be paranoid. I wouldn't be surprised if that was her entire scheme, to come here, make us all afraid, just to leave without doing much of anything."

"That, I'm afraid, is wishful thinking." Nikolas turned and Sam craned her neck as Alexis walked toward them. Her arms were folded and her body huddled against the cold wind that blew off of the river. "The Zacchara family would not be financing her unless there was something in it for them."

"And what's in it for them?" Sam asked.

"Kristina." Alexis spoke in a calm voice, but her eyes betrayed her fear. Mostly, Helena had ignored Alexis's children. She focused on Nikolas and Spencer, the two that were actually related to her. Alexis and her children were just a bonus.

Alexis's eyes drifted from Sam to Jason, and Sam turned around to look at him. Sam wasn't focused on the why of it all, only how she was going to protect everyone. The meaning behind her mother's words should have been obvious to her, but she couldn't wrap her mind around it. Jason, however, could.

"Anthony Zacchara has always meant for his son to take over for him," Jason said softly. "Sonny is only a means to an end. He hopes that the two of us will kill each other off so he can take the whole area. If Helena takes Kristina…"

"Sonny will be weakened," Sam finished. Now, she understood. She also fully understood why Alexis had tried so hard to separate Kristina from Sonny, why she didn't want him to have anything to do with her daughter. Sam turned back to Alexis. "Anthony wants to use Kristina against Sonny, so he's using Helena to get what he wants."

"Wait a minute," Nikolas said. "Helena isn't one to be used. My grandmother is a lot of things, but gullible is definitely not one of them."

"Oh, I'm sure Helena knows about Anthony's agenda." Alexis pulled her arms in closer, tighter. Sam didn't think she was shielding herself from just the cold. "I'm sure that her main goal is Spencer, but she would take Kristina and probably Molly, too. It doesn't hurt her to take them. It's a bonus for her. She gets what she wants either way."

"Well, I'm not going to let that happen." Sam stood up straight, dropped her arms to her sides. Her hands balled into tight fists. "If any of you think I'm going to let that crazy bitch come here and destroy our family, then you're crazy. She doesn't get her hands on my cousin or my sisters. She doesn't get her hands on anyone."

"I, for one, don't plan to stick around and watch anything happen," Alexis said. "I have the girls packed and I'm sending them away." Her laugh was bitter. "Can you believe that I've spent all of Kristina's life trying to keep her safe from Sonny, and now I have to depend on him for her safety?"

"What did you tell him?" Jason asked.

"I told him that Helena was on her way back and that I needed the girls to go somewhere safe." Alexis tilted her head to the side. Her smile was patronizing and it was all for Jason. "You didn't think I would tell him his culpability now, did you? The last thing I need is for him to go straight to Zacchara and wind up dead before the children were safe. You can tell him the rest."

Sam felt Jason go stiff behind her. She wanted to look at his face, but didn't want to turn away from her mother. For the first time, Sam was truly seeing how cold her mother could be. It was a family trait, and she'd seen it in Nikolas's eyes a time or two, but never really on Alexis. The coldness suited her well, and that both comforted and frightened Sam at once. This was not the time to feel sorry for Sonny, which is exactly what he would have turned this into. It would have stopped being about the girls and started being about his betrayal. At the moment, Sam gave more of a damn about her sisters than she did Sonny Corinthos.

"Nikolas, you can't just wait for her to come," Alexis said. "You know as well as I do that Helena will only play games for so long. She will come here and she will take Spencer. She may even kill Nadine. You have turned your back on her far too often for Helena forgive. If she has Spencer, then she has the future of the Cassadine family. That is all that has ever mattered to her."

"I can't keep running from her," Nikolas said. "I have to stand up to her. I have to do something."

"Then at least send Spencer away. He can go with the girls to wherever Sonny is sending them. There will be guards, and if we do this quietly enough, she'll never know that we've gone."

"He's had too much upheaval in his life, Alexis. Spencer needs some kind of stability."

"Then send Nadine with him. He likes Nadine, and she'll make him feel comfortable. Nadine loves you, Nikolas. If you ask her to go, explain the danger, she will go. I'm sure you can get her the time off at the hospital, and maybe this will be taken care of quickly."

"You talk like this will be the end of it. It's never the end with her."

Alexis looked at Sam, and then her eyes shifted behind her, back to Jason. Whatever she saw on Jason's face brought resignation to her own. "I believe that this may finally be the end."

Nikolas turned his eyes to each of them, stopping on all three momentarily, before dropping to the ground. "I hate this," he muttered. "I hate the running."

"You won't have to run anymore," Sam told him. She stepped up closer to him. Sam put a hand on his shoulder and Nikolas looked up at her. He was so tired of everything. "Get Spencer to safety, Nikolas. Even if you won't leave Port Charles, get Spencer out of here. Let me handle your grandmother."

"I can't ask you to do that, Sam."

"You're not asking me." Sam put her arms around him and held him close. She loved having family, having someone to care about. A part of her had been drifting aimlessly ever since Danny died. The last of her family was gone with him, but now, she had the chance to do it all over again. She was unable to save her brother, but she would be damned if she failed again.

Sam pulled back and let out a heavy sigh. "Get Spencer ready to go. We'll use the tunnels beneath Spoon Island that lead back to the mainland and get you out of here."

Nikolas didn't want to, but he knew she was right. He had to worry about Spencer's safety. He looked to Alexis and she nodded. No words passed between them as she put an arm around his shoulders and led him back to the castle. Sam watched them until they were too far away for her to see. Then, she turned to Jason.

"You're going to need to talk to Sonny, let him know what's going on."

"I know."

"Are you going to do that now?"

Jason shook his head. "I've always told Sonny, the children come first. He never understands, never gets it. He doesn't see—" Jason shook his head. "The children come first," he said again. "When we've taken care of Helena, I'll deal with Sonny."

"We don't know when she's coming, though."

"I can find out," he said softly.

"How?"

"John Zacchara."


	7. Chapter 7

"Why are you coming to me with this?" John asked. "I don't have anything to do with that business. I'm tired of telling you people the same thing over and over again. Go talk to Sonny."

Jason had considered it. On the launch headed back to the mainland, he had considered talking to Sonny. In the car, he had almost called him. The phone was in his hand and when he dialed, he expected Sonny to pick up on the other end. Obviously, though, his subconscious had other ideas, because when the other end of the line picked up, it was John Zacchara.

Truth of the matter was, Jason didn't have time to mess around with Sonny. For all he knew, Helena could have already been in town, waiting to make her move. There were lives at stake, children's lives, and Jason couldn't afford to be slowed down by Sonny's need to be the victim in everything. Alexis was definitely right about that, no matter how much Jason hated to agree with her. Sonny would turn this whole thing around until it was about him and only him. By the time Jason got any useful information out of him, it might have been too late.

This would have made one hell of a time for Jason to talk to Sonny, anyway. They had barely spoken since Sonny took over the Zacchara organization. Jason had never felt such violent anger toward Sonny as he did when he found out that his former partner was now his rival, and that rivalry had nothing to do with Jason's rage. Jason's ire was all because Sonny showed, yet again, how little he cared for his children. Wasn't the point of giving up the business to keep the children safe, anyway? Apparently, Sonny didn't care about that.

"Wait," John said, "so does this mean that you don't trust Sonny? That you think he's in on this?"

Jason hadn't given many details, just that John's family was bringing someone very dangerous to town and he needed information. Lulu kept telling Jason that he could trust John, but Jason didn't trust someone based solely on someone else's opinion. "Sonny wouldn't be in on this."

"Why wouldn't he be in on it? He's the one running the family now. He's the one with the power."

The kid was good, Jason had to give him that. If he didn't know any better, Jason would almost think that John believed that. He knew his father too well, though. He knew that Anthony Zacchara was never going to settle for someone other than his son running the family, especially when that person was his enemy less than a year before.

"Get off it, Zacchara," Jason said. "You know damn well that your old man is just waiting for the right time to do things his way."

Jason had tried to warn Sonny of this time and again, but he wouldn't listen. Pride was Sonny's fatal flaw, and he always thought that he was smarter than those around him. Sonny thought that he had Anthony Zacchara on a leash, that he had him under control, but the current situation proved that Sonny didn't know half as much as he thought he did.

A part of Jason felt bad about keeping this from him. If Jason thought that Sonny would really look at the whole thing and do what needed to be done right then and there, he might have gone straight to him. Rivals or not, Sonny was still like a brother to him. He was an estranged brother, but a brother nonetheless. He didn't like hiding things from Sonny, but there were just some things that were better handled away from him. This was one of them.

John shrugged. "He doesn't get the point any better than you do. I'm out of it, done, that's it. I can't help you."

"Yes, you can. Play the game up a little, John. Go to your old man, talk to him. Tell him you heard a rumor, or talk to some people that you think might know something. All I need is a date. I just need to know when she's coming."

"I'm sorry," he said with another shrug. "I can't help you. My father may be crazy, but he's not stupid. He knows I don't care about his business or what he does. If I come asking him questions, he'll get suspicious."

Jason's stomach twisted. He was going to let Sam down. The thought surprised him. This was about the children, about getting rid of that witch that held a strangling grip on so many people in this town. Yet, at the moment when he thought his idea would fail, Sam was the person that came to mind. He was doing this for her, talking to Zacchara for her. He had let her down a lot in the past. The two of them had let each other down. Jason didn't want to let her down, again.

He should have stayed out of the whole mess. He should have told Alexis and Nikolas that it wasn't his business anymore, because it wasn't. He and Sam were friends again, but that was as far as their lives together went. What Sam did in her own time was Sam's business and had no bearing on the life of Jason Morgan. Granted, had he not come along, there would probably have been a dead body found in that hotel room in the city, but that still had nothing to do with him.

Jason remembered that kiss, though. He remembered the warmth of her skin against his palm. In those moments, from his hands on her hips to his hands hovering at her head, Jason had forgotten that they weren't together, anymore. He'd forgotten everything but the way that small, feisty woman made him feel. He had forgotten everything except what it was like to be able to share even the dirtiest parts of his life with a woman and not fear that she would judge him.

Jason put his hands to his face. This was not the time. He let his hands drop to his sides and looked at John. "Are you going to help me or not?"

"I wish I could, but I can't. If I hear anything, I'll let you know, but as far as what my father's doing and when he's doing it, I just don't know."

John Zacchara was a bust, and a part of Jason knew that he would be all along. John was right. He was so adamant that he was out, his father wouldn't believe that he suddenly wanted back in right when he had something major going on. He should have just killed Zacchara and gotten it over with. Reason reared its saintly head before Jason had even talked himself into the hit. Helena was coming anyway. Take care of Zacchara later, find when the bitch was coming in, now.

Jason let John walk off and pulled out his phone. He had another avenue he could take, but that was one that he liked less than talking to Sonny. "Spinelli," he said when the other end picked up. "I need you to dig. You're looking for any travel arrangements that even remotely link back to the Zacchara family. Call me the second you find anything out."

Jason hung up before Spinelli could beg him for details. The less Spinelli knew, the better. Jason wasn't too sure that he would be able to find anything, but it was at least worth a shot. They had time to root around, to find information. The children were out of harm's way, and with any lucky, Helena would never know that they had been taken away. Undoubtedly, she was coming soon. The last of her payments had been made except for one, and Jason assumed that payment would be made when the deed was done. Soon, Helena would be back in time and, by then, they would hopefully have knowledge and a plan. Hopefully, they would be waiting for her.

Jason made another call. "Yeah, John Zacchara was a bust," he said, "but I have Spinelli working on it."

"Maybe we should just go to Sonny." Sam's voice was strained, tired.

"Not unless we absolutely have to. I'm not going to let his ego endanger those kids." He didn't add that Sonny's ego had already done enough damage. That went without saying. Wasn't one child hurt enough for him? Obviously not, else he'd have stayed out of it altogether after Michael was shot. "We have time, Sam," Jason said. "We need information and we need a plan. Spinelli's the best when it comes to information."

"And we're not too shabby when it comes to a plan." Was she smiling? Right then, Jason cursed the lack of an imagination that his accident had left with him all those years ago. He wanted to be able to picture Sam's face with a smile on it, tired and soft, but a smile all the same. The most he could accomplish was pulling up a memory of the last time he'd seen her smile.

"We'll do this, Sam," he said. Jason headed back for his car. "We'll take care of this together."

"Jason…" Sam was quiet for a second, then said, "Thanks. I don't know if I…" She paused again. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet. Thank me when Helena's not a problem anymore." Jason stopped at the car with his hand on the door. "I'm heading back to Wyndemere now. Hold tight, okay? We'll figure this out."

"Okay."

Jason almost said, _I love you_. It was so natural a thing to say to her, something that had rolled off of his tongue so easily in the past but now he choked back down. After everything that had happened, did he even deserve to love her, again? Instead, Jason said, "I'll see you soon." He slapped his phone shut, opened the car door and got inside.


	8. Chapter 8

"Mr. Morgan is here for you, Ms. McCall."

Sam sat up so quickly that she nearly toppled off of the couch. Alfred's voice was a startling contrast to the silence that had enveloped her as she stared up at the ceiling. At that time, her thoughts had circled around one very simple question. _What the hell am I doing?_

She was helping her family. She was _saving_ her family. All of Sam's desire to protect had been transferred to her new family, and she would do whatever was necessary to save them. She probably should have gone to Mac with what she knew. She wouldn't have to tell him how he got his information. The PCPD had a hard-on for anything involving the mob, and she would only have to say Zacchara to pique his interest. She should probably lay this all at his feet and let the law handle the Zacchara family and the Cassadines. It's not like she really cared if Sonny got caught in the middle of it or not. Sam had stopped truly caring about where Sonny ended up years ago.

The problem with that, however, was that Sam knew the police wouldn't handle it properly, that the law had already failed to contain Helena Cassadine. Even if the police took care of the Zaccharas, Helena would still be out there and she would just find another way to get into town, and to get to the children. Besides that, Sam couldn't shake her distrust where the police were concerned. She couldn't even blame that on her time with Sonny and Jason. Sam had never trusted the police, and it was hard to move in that direction. As a PI, she would have to learn, and she understood them better after a small time working with them, but there was still doubt within her, still a small, quivering voice that told her to avoid the authorities and handle it on her own.

There was also Jason to think about. She didn't care if Sonny got pulled into it, but she didn't want to see Jason pulled in by the cops because she had spoken to them. The PCPD had been hauling Jason into the station for years. Sometimes, it was legitimate. Sam always helped him out of his bind, if she could, but at the end of the day, those times she knew that Jason had actually done something for the police to arrest him. Other times, though, they just picked him up because something happened and they had no one but the usual suspects to bother. Jason had enough trouble staying out of lock-up without Sam putting him on the police's radar.

Sam could handle this on her own. Granted, she wasn't alone in this. She had Jason to help her, but even if he weren't there, she could have done this. She had to do this. Her family needed her. Finally, someone really did need her.

So yes, her question was simply answered, but Alfred's announcement brought on a whole new question that was not so easily answered. _Can being near Jason end up anywhere good?_ Being near him could end her up a couple of places that were nice and comfy, a bed for one, but was that necessarily good? According to her cousin, no. Alexis had wisely said nothing when Jason left to talk to Johnny, but Nikolas had his say. Nikolas reminded her what happened, how she felt, and made sure she knew that he would prefer Sam to not end up in that situation again. He would be there for her should it happen, of course, but he'd rather not have it come to that.

Nikolas was right, on some level. There had been a lot of pain involved with Jason. They both had done a lot of wrong, but Sam had been the one really hurt. Thinking of it often made Sam angry. Jason threatened her, he shoved her to the side; he just didn't care. Sam had been the one left aching while Jason moved on. No, she definitely did not want to end up in that place again.

On the other hand, Jason was the one that brought Sam together with her family. Yes, yes, it involved her getting shot, but he was the one that went to Alexis, told her the truth. He was the one that brought her mother to her when she really needed her, and for that, Sam would always be grateful. It was a secret she would have taken to her grave, and one that Jason knew no longer needed to be kept.

Also, there was the way she felt when she was around him. She knew that she had never stopped loving him. Even when she hated him and wanted to hurt him, Sam had still loved him. With the hard feelings almost completely gone between them, Sam could feel that love the same way she had before they broke up. She felt like she had that night after the wedding, when she looked up at Jason from the floor and saw his face hovering above hers. She would have screamed if he'd not kissed her right then, and thank God, that he did.

The door opened and Sam shook her thoughts away. Jason looked troubled, his brow furrowed and his eyes dark. "You're thinking about going to Sonny, aren't you?"

Jason sat down beside her and groaned. "I don't want to, but if Spinelli doesn't come through, we may have no other choice." Jason put both hands to his face and pulled them down roughly. His arms hit his thighs and his hands dangled between his knees. "Sonny and I have barely even spoken since he took over the Zacchara organization."

Well, this was one hell of a time to have to talk to him. If he and Jason weren't talking, the last thing Sonny would react well to would be Jason coming in accusatory. For her part, though, Sam really didn't think that Sonny knew what was going on. He'd shown time and again that, when his personal life got complicated, the business fell to the wayside. He probably didn't even know that Anthony was making a move.

"We just have to hope that Spinelli comes through, then." Sam looked over at him and wanted to hug him. She found the compulsion strange, considering that it was her family that was in danger, that it was Sam that needed a hug. But, Jason looked so distraught, and she wanted to comfort him.

"Jason…"

He looked at her and Sam's words cut off. The look in his eyes was nothing like she'd seen back at the hotel, back when they had kissed. That had been lust, need, desire… Sam wanted to think even some love had been there, when she had pulled away from him, right before she ran into the bathroom. This look, though, was filled with memory. This look was wistful. Sam knew that look well, because she saw it on her own face often as she looked in the mirror and her mind wandered more often than it should have to Jason.

"I've messed up," he said softly. "I've messed up with you and I don't want to do it again."

Sam wanted to believe that it wasn't Elizabeth Jason had been in love with, but the baby, and the idea of being a father. Hadn't he looked the same way when they were going to parent her baby as he had with Elizabeth? She wanted to believe that he knew deep down that Elizabeth wasn't the woman for him, that their time had passed. She talked herself out of it a lot, but it was harder to do now.

"We've both messed up," Sam said, taking a chance that his mind had gone the same place that hers had gone. It was entirely possible that Jason was talking about something completely different. He could have been talking about when the kids were kidnapped, or when Michael was shot.

"I wonder, can it be fixed? Can we—" He paused, and Sam knew that she was right. He was thinking about the same thing that she was thinking about.

"Sometimes, I think it can," Sam said softly. "I think that the past is gone, and I think of all the people we know that have messed up and fixed what was broken."

"And others?"

"Other times, I wonder if Nikolas is right and I'm just setting myself up for more heartache."

Anger flashed over Jason's face, then remorse set into his eyes. "Where is Nikolas? Are they all gone?"

Sam sighed. She shouldn't have mentioned Nikolas. This was going to steer them in the opposite direction. Though, that could be a good thing. This was a conversation that Sam knew they needed to have, but at the same time dreaded.

"Alexis is going with the kids. She took a week off for a family emergency. Nikolas just went with them to the airstrip, probably to reassure Nadine that everything will be alright. She was worried that he wouldn't go, too."

"He should have gone," Jason said.

"I know, but he's just—Nikolas is tired of running, and maybe he can help. He knows Wyndemere better than I do, and he knows the tunnels around Spoon Island. He wants to stand up to her, and he said he couldn't do that if he ran away. So, he'll be back once they've taken off."

Jason turned to look at the door. Silence prevailed as Sam joined him. It was like they were waiting for him to walk in, waiting for Nikolas to come back and put a stop to whatever could be happening there. This could be a make or break discussion. Either they would realize that they're better apart, or Sam could be regaining the love of her life.

Finally, after it seemed clear that the doors weren't going to open with the strength of the Cassadine prince, Jason turned back to Sam. "We have both done some horrible things to each other, Sam."

She was well aware of that. He had threatened to kill her. She had picked up a gun and considered taking care of him first. Vitriol had been spit from both sides and landed like burning acid on the other. And yet, there was still something there, some connection that they couldn't break. Fate kept bringing them together, and that had to mean something.

"Yes," she said, "we have, but we've both helped each other when it was necessary." Sam closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. Her eyelids fluttered open as she slowly let the breath back out. "I like to think that we're better together than we are apart."

"We do get a lot done together."

"I—" Sam stopped, unsure if she should say it or not. Was this really the time to be having this discussion, anyway? They should be making plans. Sam knew what she planned to do about Helena, and they would need to get rid of her at the end of it all. They also needed to really set down what they would say to Sonny, if they had to talk to him about it at all. There were more important things to worry about than their relationship, or lack thereof, and yet, Sam couldn't draw her mind away from it. They were too close, and this was too much like old times.

The hell with it. "I'm happier when I'm with you," Sam told him. She turned her head away, stared at the large, heavy desk across the room. Nikolas had left papers out in a neat stack. Her life was made of complete and utter chaos, and it was just her. Nikolas had a young son and a business to run, and yet he was always free of clutter. Was it a Cassadine thing or because he had servants? If it was a Cassadine thing, she would have to ask him to teach her.

Jason touched her cheek, just the light brush of his fingertips, at first, and then his palm against her skin. Sam turned her head but Jason's hand didn't move. Her lips at his palm, she couldn't stop herself from puckering, from kissing lightly. She looked into his eyes, and she didn't wonder what bad was going to come to them. She didn't think about the next thing that broke them up or the next time that Jason decided that his life was too dangerous for her. Maybe he'd even finally realized that he couldn't be the sole voice of reason in their relationship, that he was not the only one that got to make choices.

"I am, too," he said.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: **Sorry this one took so long to post. I had trouble logging in after it was written a few days ago, and then completely forgot that I hadn't actually gotten it posted. RL is bugging me, lately, but I'll try and get more of this story posted in a more timely fashion.

* * *

Jason was gone when Nikolas came back, and as much as Sam liked having him around, she couldn't deny that his absence with her cousin around was a good thing. Nikolas didn't forget an affront, and he was not going to forget what he had seen from Sam after she and Jason broke up. If they really got back together, truly tried to make it work again, Sam was pretty sure that it would take Jason a long time to prove himself worthy again.

The funny thing was that Jason wouldn't even be trying. He wouldn't care if Nikolas approved of him or not. Jason didn't bother with the people on the peripheral. This was about him and Sam, and they were the only ones that mattered. It would still be there, though, Nikolas's watchful eye, waiting for him to do something wrong. It was sweet, and Sam loved that someone cared enough about her to worry so much.

"Everyone get off okay?"

Nikolas nodded as he sat down beside her. He leaned back at angle, positioning himself in the corner of the sofa and throwing an arm over the back. "Spencer doesn't really understand why he has to go. It's a good thing that Nadine went with him. He really likes her."

"And you? Do you really like her?"

An eyebrow shot up, then slowly fell to rest. "What do you think of Nadine?"

"I think she's a really nice person, and I think she cares about both you and Spencer a lot. I think she's been good for you, to be honest. She got you to realize what you need and what Spencer needs, didn't she?"

Sam hated to think of what would have been had Nikolas not gotten that surgery. Between his rages and his blackouts—Nikolas was being selfish, and he only seemed to really understand that when Nadine told him, probably because she was harsher with him than his family. Alexis and Sam tried to make him understand by being nice. Nadine was blunt, and someone like Nikolas needed that bluntness. He needed someone who wasn't going to stand in awe of his title, or wouldn't back off when he looked like he was getting sad.

"What I think of her doesn't matter, though," Sam told him. "What matters is what you think of her, and I think that you really like her, possibly more than you're willing to say."

Nikolas was quiet for a moment. He ran both hands down his face and leaned forward. His elbows rested on his thighs and his hands hung loosely clasped between his knees. He stared down at the floor, and Sam wondered what was going through his mind. Nikolas had been through a lot, too much for someone like him. He was a Cassadine, but he was a good person. He turned his head slowly until he was looking at Sam. His eyes were haunted by all of the things that had happened to him in the last few years. He had "lost" his son at the same time that Sam had lost her brother and gained a family. That seemed like so long ago now, but at other times, it felt like it was just yesterday.

"Nadine loves me," he said softly, "and I—" He sighed. "I don't know that I can say that I love her."

"You care about her, though."

"Of course."

"I think," Sam said, "that you would love Nadine if you let yourself. You're holding on so tightly—" Sam moved a little closer to him and reached out. Her hand fell on his hands and she squeezed. "No one's saying that you have to forget Emily, Nikolas, but at some point, you need to realize that it's okay to love someone else."

"You tried to love someone else," he told her. "How did that work out for you?"

Sam jumped slightly and her hand slipped from the heels of his hands to his wrists. As she settled, Sam let her hand slide slowly back to his hands. "That's different, Nikolas. Lucky and I—" She shook her head. "Beyond whatever Lucky and I were or weren't, it's different, because Jason isn't dead."

A darkness fell over his eyes that both lifted Sam's heart and frightened her. His eyes said that, very easily, Jason could be dead. She sometimes forgot about his ruthless Cassadine nature. Nikolas could be so soft and gentle, but he could also be hard and cold. Jason had done his family wrong, and if Nikolas had to take care of him, then so be it. It's probably a very good thing that Sam hadn't confessed Jason's threat to him when it happened.

"Jason…" Sam paused, unsure of how to go on. She should have known better than to start talking about relationships. This talk would have eventually come around to her and Jason, and she should have had the forethought to avoid it entirely. She should have been filling Nikolas in on what was going on, or finding out more information about his psycho grandmother.

"You can't stop loving him, and that's going to hurt you. Maybe he won't mean to hurt you, but he will. That's what he does."

"That's not what he does," Sam said, on the defensive. "He just… Jason isn't the only one that was wrong, Nikolas. I was wrong," she said, "a lot, and if he can forgive me for that, then I can forgive him."

"You can forgive him for tossing you away like that?"

"I can, because he can forgive me. I… I love him, Nikolas, and I want to be with him again. He still loves me, too."

"And what happens next time?"

"There is no next time." Sam put both of her hands on his leg, near his knee. She looked at his eyes hard, serious and honest. "Don't let Jason and I, or Alexis and Ric, or any of the other people around you be the reason you stop yourself from loving Nadine. And, for the love of God, don't let what happened to Emily do that, either." Sam squeezed his hands. "You get to be happy again, Nikolas."

"You really think so?"

"What I think is that you already are, and the only time you're not is when you won't let yourself be." Sam reached up and tapped his face, a gentle touch at the corner of his mouth with her fingertips. "Smile, Nikolas. It's okay to do that."

A small smile, a quick upturn of his lips, but that didn't last too long. "I don't think now is the time for smiling, though," he said with a sigh. Nikolas leaned back again, returned to his perch in the corner. "I can worry about Nadine and me later, and we can both worry about you and Jason when this is all over. For now—"

"For now, we've got bigger fish to fry." Sam let out a heavy sigh. "I swear, Nikolas, your grandmother—"

"I know. She really does love to be a thorn in my side. At least she knows that she'll never be forgotten," he said. "At least, not for long."

"Oh, she'll be forgotten, alright," Sam said with a sneer. "When I'm done with her… Trust me, cousin, when this is over, we'll all get the chance to be happy, and we won't have to worry about the Wicked Bitch of the West showing up to ruin it."


	10. Chapter 10

Sam stared out at the water with the wind blowing her hair into her face. Sam didn't bother to push it back. She just looked out on the black water, wondering if she really was able to do the thing that she had planned. Could she really kill someone, even a person as hideous as Helena Cassadine?

Technically, it would be in cold blood. Sam had no intention of waiting for Helena to make the first attack. She planned to kill her the moment she saw her. If she had to go to court, she was pretty sure she could argue that she had killed her in defense of a third person, though that would require some proof of Helena's nefarious intentions. Of course, that was all beside the point because Sam never planned to be caught. The only people who would know what Sam had done weren't likely to go to the police.

She couldn't just stand by and let this woman terrorize them, though. Sam knew that Helena would never quit. She would press on and on until she found a moment of weakness. She would keep going until she had what she wanted, and that was to make Nikolas suffer and to have all of the power. Helena had held too much power over her family for too long. Sam was going to end that, one way or another.

Sam was glad to have Jason there with her, someone who understood what needed to be done and wouldn't try to stop her. How many people had Jason killed in the defense of those he loved? Nikolas and Alexis both knew what needed to be done, but could either of them really condone her actions? Yes, Alexis had killed before, but her actions had been filled with emotion and, had she thought about it first, Sam didn't believe that Alexis would have killed Luis Alcazar. And Nikolas… He wanted to be rid of his grandmother, but Sam couldn't imagine him holding a gun on the old bag and taking her out. She couldn't see him standing over his grandmother's body and watching her die. Sam could do that. She thought she could do that. She could look at that old bitch and watch the life drain out of her, because that is what had to be done. Jason understood that. Jason would help her do it.

If he ever came back, that is.

Sam knew that Jason was doing important work, but she selfishly wanted him to be there. Her mind should have been solely on getting rid of Helena, but as she watched the lights twinkle across the harbor, she knew that she was waiting to see the launch as it brought Jason back. She would run to him, meet him at the docks, and when she put her arms out, he would hold her. Jason would wrap her in his arms and, for a moment, Sam would forget about the danger and Helena and would only be happy that she had finally gotten back the man that she loved.

"Later," she muttered to herself. Sam slid her hand into her hairline and pulled it back through her hair. Her face was free for only a second before the wind blew it back into her face and left her looking through a wispy curtain of black.

_She's out there_, Sam thought. She crossed her arms over her stomach, her fingers reaching out to touch her hips, then going further. Within a few seconds, she was hugging herself. Helena was out there somewhere, and Sam had to admit, if only to herself, that she was afraid. Helena Cassadine's evil was legendary. She almost wished Luke were around to give her some pointers. He'd been fighting the bitch for years. Though, would Luke really help her if he knew she planned to kill Helena? He was pretty attached to his decades long rivalry with the Cassadine matriarch.

No, no, Luke wouldn't save her. There were children involved here and Sam couldn't believe that even Luke would be that selfish. He would probably sit back with a drink and laugh, throwing out witty commentary.

Sam's phone rang, buzzing in the depth of her pocket and vibrating her thigh. She scrambled for the phone, and out the corner of her eye, she saw a light in the distance. She pulled the phone free and said, "Yeah?"

"She's already here." Jason's voice was faint, distant over the bad connection. As he spoke, the launch grew closer, and the sound of its engine grew louder. "I got a call from Spinelli on my way back to Spoon Island. Helena is already in Port Charles."

"Damn it!" Sam pulled her hair back and this time, she was annoyed when she let go and the wind sent it sailing back into her face. "How long has she been here?"

"An hour? Maybe more, but at least an hour." He shouted over the engines at the driver, "Can't this tub go any faster!" Some answer was given that Sam couldn't hear, but whatever the answer, it left Jason grumbling. "For all I know, she could already be there. Are you inside?"

"No," Sam said. "I'm out at the cliffs. I can see the launch coming up now."

"Get inside," he told her. "Get inside and lock yourself in. She may already be on the island and I don't want you searching for her until I get there."

"Jason…"

"Just do it, Sam, please." Though his voice was faint, the exasperation was clear. "Nikolas may be able to guide you through the tunnels, but he's not good back up. Just get inside. I'm almost there."

The line went dead and Sam's arm fell to her side. She heard someone coming up behind her, dirt and rocks being kicked as the wind blew. "She's here, Nikolas," she said. "We have to—" Sam stopped when she was halfway around, turned now away from the water.

"You are your mother's child, aren't you? You are meddlesome and head strong, all things I might have been proud of if you were any relation to me. As your relation is only to Alexis, I find them much less appealing."

Helena's back was straight, and as the wind kicked up, she managed to keep her steady stance. She didn't rock with the blowing gusts. Her eyes were hard. She was a fierce woman, nothing like the harmless old lady that she had convinced others she was to be in the past. Standing before Sam was a monster, one that needed to be destroyed. Slowly, staring at the witch that had terrorized her family and killed the grandmother Sam had never known, Sam slid her hand to her hip.

"You could have been a very worthy adversary," Helena said. She didn't shout, but as the wind kicked up and the sound of the launch's engine grew closer, Sam could still hear her clearly.

"Could have been," Sam said with a grunt. "More like I am."

"Perhaps," Helena nodded. "Or perhaps you need a few more years to grow."

"Why are you standing here talking to me?" Sam's hand clutched the butt of her gun. Her fingers slid down, making sure the strap was unfastened. The last thing she wanted was to pull and the gun be stuck inside. "Why didn't you just push me over the side?"

"In due time," she said. "I prefer to look a person in the eye before I kill them. It's much more satisfying that way."

"Is that what you did to my grandmother?"

The humor in her eyes was insulting enough, but when she laughed… Oh, God, Sam's teeth gritted and she wanted to scream. "Yes, actually," Helena said when her laughing was done, "I stared into her eyes and watched her die. Her blood was warm as it fell over my hands, and unlike Lady MacBeth, there were no haunting spots to follow me after."

A monster, she was. Pure evil. Sam felt a shiver travel down and then back up her spine. She pulled her gun and held it steady. Her hands were tight around the grip, and her her arms were rigid. Sam had to concentrate to keep her arms steady as the wind picked up more and more. The wind was awfully convenient for Helena. Maybe she really was a witch and had worked the weather to help her. Or, she was just a very lucky bitch. The latter was more likely.

Helena let out a harsh bark of a laugh. "Are you going to shoot me? Kill me to save your new family." She took a step closer and Sam felt the trigger slowly moving beneath her finger before she even knew she was pulling. "It's better for you, really, if you die quickly. Should you survive, Nikolas will never forgive you."

"There won't be anything to forgive. I'm getting rid of you once and for all." The wind was cold, and her finger was stiff. That was the only reason Sam had for why she'd not yet pulled the trigger. She wouldn't allow herself to think that she couldn't do it, that after all of the bad things she'd done in life, she would fail when a bad thing was really good.

Helena moved, a quick blur, and Sam fired. The bullet missed her. Damn, that woman was fast! Sam turned to the left, trying to catch the blur. Something hit her hands and her gun went flying over the cliff. Instinctively, she looked over her shoulder, watching her gun fly over the bluff, and even as her head moved, she knew that it was the wrong thing to do. Instinct was supposed to help, but in this instance, it had betrayed her. Sam's moment of distraction was all Helena needed. She grabbed Sam's shoulders and took only a moment to look her in the eyes.

"Yes," Helena said, "much more satisfying." And then she shoved, and Sam was falling backwards, down into the abyss, and she could only curse herself for her failure. It was better than thinking of how much it would hurt when she hit the sharp rocks below.

33


	11. Chapter 11

If she survived this, the story Sam would give about her harrowing adventure and miraculous survival would be a lot more exciting and swashbuckling than the truth. The story was going to be grand and make her look like a hero. Of course, no one but Spinelli would probably by it, but one person was better than none, right?

_As she pushed me over the cliff, I bent backwards to flip in the air and face the side of the wall. I saw the ledge only seconds before it rushed up on me. I could have missed it easily if I weren't paying attention. I arched my body like a human parachute, the kind you see them make with sheets in cartoons. My hands hit first and I grabbed the ledge. My knees hit it and it started to shake. That thing wasn't sturdy at all. _

_I managed to get my feet under me. I looked up and there were jagged rocks and half-ledges sticking out the sides. I pulled myself up and the moment I had a good foothold on a set of rocks, the ledge I was on crumbled. Talk about scary!_

_Let me tell you, it was one hell of a climb up. My arms were hurting and my legs were screaming, but I knew I had to keep going. By the time I got up there, that bitch would already be at Nikolas. I couldn't let her get to him! I kept going and it felt like it would never end, but I did… not… stop. I kept going until I reached the top, threw myself up on sturdy land, then laid on my back just long enough to catch my breath before I got up and raced toward Wyndemere._

Yeah, it was nothing like that at all. Sam survived by sheer luck. She hit the crumbling ledge hard and started to immediately roll off. Her legs flailed, and only quick reflexes kept her from tumbling to the bottom. She managed to get her a hold on the remaining rock and pull herself up to something sturdier. She did start to climb, but she didn't have that far to go, and she didn't have to do it alone.

Sam looked up and Jason never looked so gorgeous. He lay flat on the ground, his arm outstretched. "Sam!" He moved further over the ledge, stretched his arm as far as it would go. "Give me your hand!"

She looked up at him and wished she had the courage to do it. If she let go of one of those rocks and he didn't grab her, there was a very real possibility that she would fall and Sam didn't think she had the kind of luck that would put another ledge, crumbling or otherwise, in her path. She tucked her head down. Sam shook her head and felt the dirt and rocks scraping her forehead.

"I can't," she muttered. She turned her head up and said again, louder this time, "I can't!"

"Sam, you have to reach up!"

"If I let go, I'll fall!"

"Have I ever let you fall?"

Why, suddenly, did the nastiest things come to her mind? "Yes, you let me fall, dammit! Remember when I was in the truck of that car? You're not the one that grabbed me! And… and… my life has fallen!"

Sam saw the hurt in his eyes, but she also noticed that he didn't pull his hand back. If anything, he moved down further. Sam liked to believe that she and Jason could get back together without hashing anything out, but with what had come spilling out of her mouth, she knew that wasn't true. She was always going to remember his misdeeds, and more than likely, he would remember hers. If they were going to really make a go of it, they were going to have to talk about everything and get all of the bad stuff out in the open, or else it would eat away at the both of them until they reached a point where repair was impossible.

That was for another time, though. Right now, Sam had to get off that cliff. The moment she took her thoughts away from Jason, they went to Nikolas. What was going on inside of Wyndemere? Were Helena and Nikolas sitting down having a Cassadine moment, being civil in the chill of battle? Or was there death and mayhem awaiting her?

Sam had to get the hell off that cliff, and she knew she wasn't going to do that without Jason. She looked up at him and knew something else, too. If she didn't reach up for him, if she pressed her luck and managed to do it on her own, there would be no fixing all that had gone wrong between the two of them.

"Trust me, Sam." He was shouting to be heard over the wind, yet she heard his voice as though it was soft and gently floating into her ear. "You're slipping, and there aren't enough rocks for you to do it alone."

He was right, on both accounts. Sam looked up, and though she had another set of climbing ahead of her, after that, there was nowhere for her to hold on. She was also starting to slip as her arms strained and mist from the fog dotted her hands. To add insult to injury, the wind was getting stronger by the second, and it would blow her off if she didn't do something soon.

Sam reached up to get a little closer, to feel more sure. The last thing she needed was for Jason to fall, too, because she wasn't high enough. Sam hefted herself up a little higher, then looked up. "Don't let me fall," she said.

"I won't." He came as close to her as he could. "Reach up."

Sam tossed her hand up, and her fingers went up to his wrist. As she reached up, her foot slipped. Sam screamed as she felt herself starting to fall, and continued to scream even though she felt Jason's hand go tight around her wrist. She screamed because she was dangling and there was nothing but air beneath her feet. She screamed because she hadn't died, even though she probably should have. She screamed because she had almost give up the last hope of having Jason back because, for a second, all of the mistrust she had came flooding back and swallowed all of the reasons she **should** have trusted him.

"I've got you!" Jason shouted. His face turned red and seemed to swell as he pulled her up. Sam's shoulder cried out at the pull, but thankfully, it didn't pop. Sam reached up and grabbed his arm as he hoisted her up, her short nails scraping at his arm as she tried to get a good hold on him. Jason's other hand came down on her wrist and he jerked her up.

The journey to the top did seem to take ages, but finally, she was at the top, sliding up over the edge. Jason was up on his knees, now, and as Sam came fully over, she toppled against him and they fell to the ground. Their hands were between their bodies, neither of them letting go. Tears fell from Sam's cheeks, and she didn't care. She had almost died. She deserved a cry, but only a short one, because there was a bitch in there waiting to look her in the eye and try to kill her again.

"You're okay," Jason said. "I've got you."

"You have me," Sam said softly. Why did that seem to mean more than anything else he could have said. He could have told her that he loved her, needed her, wouldn't have made it if she had died, but just those words… _I've got you_… They were better than anything else.

Sam pushed sentimentality to the side and got to her feet. Jason was still holding on to her, and he rose as she rose. They only pulled away from one another when they were both standing. Sam looked at Jason, then down at the cliff. She started to lean forward, to look over, but decided that was tempting fate too much.

"My gun went over the side," she said with a groan. Jason picked his own gun up from the ground then reached to his back and pulled another. _Gotta love a man that comes prepared, _Sam thought.

She nodded and said, "Come on." Sam wiped her cheeks dry, then took the gun from Jason's hand. It was a little big for her, and his extra 9mm certainly wasn't her Px4 Storm, but any port in a storm, right? Sam flexed her hand around the grip once. She checked the clip and slapped it back into the butt of the gun. Sam cocked the slide, jacking a round into the chamber, and then she turned toward Wyndemere. "It's time to get that bitch once and for all."


	12. Chapter 12

"I prefer not to do things this way, Nikolas, but I must insist that you tell me where they are." The tiny gun she held in her hand looked like an antique, something that probably shouldn't even work. It would, though, and Sam was pretty sure that the old bitch's aim wouldn't be bad.

"Give me a little more credit than that, Grandmother." Sam knew that Nikolas saw her standing there, Jason at her back, but he didn't show it. She was pretty sure that Helena knew she was there, too, but didn't know why she would hesitate. She probably thought that Sam wouldn't shoot her in the back.

Well… she wouldn't, but not because she had anything against shooting someone in the back. It's not like she was going to have to make a self defense plea where a bullet in the back would count against her. Sam had no intention of anyone ever finding Helena's body. She just wanted to look her in the eye, the same as she had done when she pushed Sam over that cliff. She wanted to see that last look of surprise when Alexis's daughter killed her.

"You know how much I hate to do things this way, Nikolas," Helena said. "I prefer a cleaner way of doing these things. Guns are so loud, and the blood is always so messy. I don't have the servants I used to have to clean it up for me."

"I pity you." Nikolas rolled his eyes and used the gesture to flash a look at Sam. "You can kill me if you want, but I won't tell you where the children are. Not that it would matter," he said, "because whether I die or not, I don't think you're going to make it off this island."

"Your cousin?" She said the word as though it was funny. "I will admit that she has a way about her. The idea that she survived that fall is definitely impressive, but she still can't save you." Without turning her head, never taking her eyes off of her grandson, Helena said, "Why don't you and Mr. Morgan join us, Samantha?

Sam looked to Jason and shrugged. Jason called out, "I think I'll stay back there," but Sam moved forward. Jason took hold of her elbow and Sam shook her head. She pulled and he let her go. She had a better chance of getting a shot in before she shot Nikolas if Sam was in front of her. And, again, the whole looking in her eyes thing was compelling.

As she passed her, Helena said, "Why don't you give me that gun?"

Sam snorted a laugh. "I think I'll keep it, thanks." She stood beside her cousin, the gun at her side for the moment. If she aimed and had to hold the position for too long, her arm would start to shake, she might miss the shot. Jason was behind her, and his gun was trained on Helena's back. Sam had time to wait, to pick her moment.

"A game, then?" Helena bent her elbow and the gun moved from pointing at Nikolas, to pointing up to the ceiling. She moved her finger away from the trigger, on the outside of the guard, then tapped her chin with the gun. Sam wished she had left her finger and would accidentally shoot herself in the face. "Well, let's see, what kind of game can we play?"

Sam started to say something, but Nikolas put a hand on her arm. She looked at him and he shook his head. "Don't engage her," he said. "She's having too much fun."

"She can have all the fun she wants, as long as she doesn't win, and believe me, she won't win."

"Are the two of you done, now?" Helena asked. She extended her arm, again, and the gun was now, once more, pointing at Nikolas's chest. "Now, as to our game. Well, to begin, you need to raise your gun, Samantha."

Sam narrowed her eyes. This didn't make much sense at all. She rose her arm, pointed at Helena's chest. "Are you asking me to shoot you, now?"

"Oh, dear," she said with a laugh, "I am merely setting the board for our little game. Now, I am almost positive that Mr. Morgan will not shoot me in the back, if only because you want the pleasure of shooting me." Sam's eyes flicked past Helena to Jason. His brow was furrowed, but his arm was straight. Would he shoot her in the back? Would Sam even care?

"Now, the game is, can you shoot me, before I shoot Nikolas?" There was too much amusement on her face, too much laughter in her eyes. Helena Cassadine was supposed to be a woman who cared, first and foremost, for her family, yet she was willing to shoot her grandson. Apparently, she had completely given up on Nikolas. Her sights were set on her great-grandson. She had very little use for the girls, so she would probably kill Kristina and Molly. But, Spencer…

Maybe she was just giving up and wanted to make a grand exit. She knew that she was outnumbered, and no one was going to give up the whereabouts of the children. She also knew that, even if she did shoot Nikolas before Sam shot her, Sam would kill her, anyway. There was no way out for Helena now, unless she really was an evil witch and had some kind of magic up her sleeve. Sam didn't believe in that stuff, so no… There was no way out for Helena.

"Are you ready?" Helena slipped her finger back inside the trigger guard. She watched Helena's finger for movement. Sam didn't trust that this game was so simple. Wasn't her end game to make Nikolas suffer? Even if she died, she would want to die knowing that she'd made him suffer. So… why kill him like that? Sam was the one that would suffer, knowing she'd let her cousin die, but Helena didn't care about her. Sam wasn't important enough to garner Helena's wrath. It made no sense. But, if Sam died, then Nikolas…

At the last moment, Sam's eyes went from Helena's finger to her shoulder. She saw it within seconds of averting her eyes, the twitch in her shoulder before the gun came her way. Nikolas saw it, too, and he shoved her to the side as the gun went off. Another gun went off as Sam was hitting the floor, a louder gun, Jason's gun.

Nikolas fell on Sam, and he was heavy. He was also bleeding. Sam wanted to check him, see where the bullet had gone in, but she didn't have time to check on him. Peering out from under him, Helena wasn't on the ground, but her gun was. She held her elbow and blood leaked through her fingers. Sam looked up at Jason and he nodded. He shot her for safety, but he was going to let Sam have the final moment.

Sam crawled from under Nikolas. Her gun was still in her hand. She forced herself to look at Helena, to not look at Nikolas. Helena searched the floor for her gun, but the tiny thing had went flying somewhere, and she wasn't going to be able to find it. Sam walked up to her slowly, moving until she was right up against her. She rose her gun and placed it over Helena's heart. Sam stared into her eyes and had to give the old bitch some credit. She wasn't afraid. There was a gun pressed against her chest, but there wasn't a hint of fear in her eyes. She knew when Sam showed up at that door that she wasn't going to survive this.

Helena seemed like the kind of woman that always awaited her death. She did horrible things, and she had made many enemies over the years. She had already resolved herself to an impending death. It was just a matter of when, how, and who.

"What is it like?" Helena asked her. "Staring into my eyes at this last moment?"

"Incredible, actually," Sam said. "I think you had a point about staring into the eyes of someone before you kill them. You learn a lot."

"Really? And what have you learned?"

"I've learned that you truly are psychotic. You don't even have the good sense to be afraid right now. I don't know what happens when a person dies, but a person like you… Whatever happens, it can't be good for a person like you."

"And what kind of person is that?"

"Evil," she said, "vindictive. If I had the good sense that you don't have, I'd be afraid just standing here. But, I'm not. Do you know what I am? I'm… satisfied. I'm happy. You don't get to win. I win," Sam said. "We win."

Helena looked past her to Nikolas and smirked. "You don't all win, my dear."

It was a manipulative trick. Helena was trying to get Sam to move her eyes away, trying for some kind of distraction. If she could get to the floor fast enough, she could possibly get out before Jason shot her. She could live to haunt another day. Sam wasn't falling for it, though. She would worry about Nikolas later. The only place other than Helena that her eyes went were to Jason. He stood a few feet behind Helena, ready to shoot her again. He was there… for her.

Sam settled her eyes back on Helena. "Say goodbye, bitch." Sam pulled the trigger. The force of the blast knocked Helena backwards and sent blood flying, splattering Sam's shirt and chin. She watched as Helena fell back onto the floor. Fear hadn't shown on her face even in that last second before Sam pulled the trigger. She hated Helena Cassadine, but she had to give her credit. She died like a pro.

The room went still, and Sam waited. She felt foolish, and later, she would laugh about the way she had waited for her to get back up like a zombie. Sam counted to ten, then twenty, and finally, when she had reached fifty, she accepted that Helena wasn't moving, and only then, did she turn to Nikolas.

He was sitting up already, his hands pressing against his side. The right side of his shirt held an expanding circle of blood. The color was draining from his face. Sam slid the gun in the back of her jeans and knelt beside him. Nikolas looked up at her and smirked. "Now would have been a great time for Nadine to be here."

"Well," she said, "I'm not a nurse, but I've seen my fair share of gunshot wounds. Let me see." She moved his hands and rose his shirt. The bullet had gone straight through. "Okay," she said, "the good news is that it's not too bad. It's a through and through."

"What's the bad news?"

"Well," she said, "if I take you to a hospital, someone is going to ask what happened, and I really don't think we want more people than necessary knowing what went on here."

"Clean him up," Jason said. Sam turned to him and he was stooping beside Helena's body. Get the butler, get some water and clean towels, some alcohol. Get him cleaned up and I'll get a doctor out here to look at it after we get rid of this." His hand waved over Helena and Sam almost laughed. How would she like being referred to as a thing?

"He's right," Nikolas said, bringing Sam's attention back to him. "I'll be okay."

He was being strong. Nikolas was a prince, for crying out loud. How often did he get shot? "Why, Nikolas?"

"I saw it in that last second. She shoots you, Jason shoots her, and in the end, it's all my fault."

"So, you did it because…"

"I did it because you're my family. You weren't going to let her kill me, and I wasn't going to let her kill you." Nikolas sat up straighter and grunted. "Go," he said. "In my office, there's a panel behind the desk. If you look hard, you can see the outline. Push in, and it'll take you down to the tunnels."

"Nikolas…"

"Go down to the bottom, make a right, and keep going straight until you find the hole. She'll never be found there."

"You dug a hole?"

He snorted a laugh. "Not hardly, but I have very faithful servants who don't ask questions when I give orders."

"Having holes dug, jumping in front of bullets… I think I'm a bad influence on you."

"If it means that I'll never have to worry about her again, I'll take the bad influence. Besides, I think it's a fair trade off. I think I've been a pretty good influence on you, too."

"Just maybe," Sam told him. She put a hand against his cheek and kissed the corner of his mouth, a quick peck of her lips. "Don't move," she said as she stood up. "Just stay there and keep pressure on it. I won't be long."

Nikolas nodded, and Sam turned her attention to Jason and Helena. No, not Helena. To the body. She looked like a fragile old woman laying there, and someone who didn't know her would probably show outrage at her murder. Sam figured that the people who did know her would probably throw her a party. Too bad they would never know what happened.

"It's almost over," Jason told her as he stood up. He put his gun in the back of his jeans and looked at Sam. "We get rid of her and then we deal with Anthony. Home free after that."

"Almost," Sam told him. "There's still Sonny. He may not have known what was going on, but the fact that he didn't know says that we are all in a lot of danger. He—" She sighed. She wasn't going to go on a killing spree. Hell, she may not even kill Zacchara. Sam wasn't cold-blooded, after all, but she did need to protect her family.

"We'll deal with him later. For now, though, let's get to the job at hand." He picked up Helena's body and threw it over his shoulder. "Lead the way."

Sam led him out of the sitting room, headed for Nikolas's office. She had to admit, though, while they were on their way to dispose of a body, she wasn't really thinking about what they were going to have to do. She wasn't even thinking about what would happen once Helena was buried. No, Sam's mind was on something a bit more practical, and wholly inappropriate. She was thinking that, with the blood she already had on her, the excess she'd get on her cleaning up Nikolas, and the blood on Jason from carrying Helena, they were both going to need a shower. Sam was thinking about washing Jason's back.

41


	13. Chapter 13

"I would like to think that this is over now." Nikolas winced as Sam wiped around and dabbed his wound. Sam gave him credit. He didn't whine. She had to imagine that princes didn't get shot too often, but he was taking it like a trooper.

"It is over," Sam said, only half-listening. Jason had a doctor coming, but they weren't going to wait around for him. The wound needed cleaning, and Sam tried not to let her attention be diverted. She didn't want Nikolas to die because she'd messed something up. "I think your blood loss is going to your head."

"There's a lot more to this than just…" Sam looked up when she felt his body moving in time to see his head jerking to the side. Helena was not going to be mentioned again. They had taken a solemn vow to never say her name again. A pinkie swear would have been more binding, but Sam didn't know her cousin well enough to know if he was a pinkie swear kind of guy. Sam was thinking that, probably, he wasn't.

"You don't need to worry about any of that," she told him. The water in the basin Alfred had set beside the bed was red and growing colder by the second. Sam watched the water fall into the basin as she twisted out more water. She laid the damn towel against Nikolas's side. "Just worry about getting better. Worry about your son and Nadine, not about what I have to do."

"You're family," Nikolas told her through gritted teeth. "I'm going to worry about you."

It was nice having family. Sam had thought that often since the truth came out, but now, it really hit her. She didn't just have people who would try and save her from emotional pain. Nikolas had jumped in front of a bullet! His talk of family wasn't just lip service for him. He really would risk his life to keep her safe.

Sam would, and did, do the same thing for him. She thought about telling him her version of her harrowing tale, dangling off the side of his island. She probably would have told him if she thought that he'd believe it. Nikolas would probably smirk, and then ask for the real story. Maybe she would just save the story for Maxie and Spinelli. They would probably believe it. At the least, Spinelli would probably believe her.

As Sam removed the towel and prepared to put gauze over the wound, Nikolas said, "Dealing with Anthony and Sonny aren't the only things that I worry about when it comes to you." Sam ignored him and, for the moment, wondered why there was such a wealth of medical supplies on Spoon Island. Alfred had brought bandages and medical tape, more than she would have thought the dreary castle would hold.

Of course, it kind of made sense. Some would probably say it had something to do with the sinister lives that Cassadines lead. They got themselves in a lot of trouble and needed to be able to take care of that trouble. Luke would probably even say they probably tortured people in the tunnels beneath the Wyndemere. The truth though, as far as Sam could see, was that Nikolas lived an isolated life. He needed a more extensive first aid kit than the average person, who only had to wait for an ambulance if they needed medical attention. Nikolas had to wait for two launch rides, and then the ambulance. His desire to be prepared came in handy.

"I want to believe that you can handle this," he said. "I want to believe that you're prepared, and that you won't just go into this head first without thinking."

"Believe me, Nikolas, I've thought about this. I've been thinking about it for… God, I don't know how long."

"You love him," Nikolas said, and it was almost like resignation, a sad acceptance that something he didn't agree with was going to happen and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"Yes, Nikolas, I do, and if we can—" She stopped and shook her head. Focus, she thought, focus. Sam carefully laid extra tape over the front of the wound, then reached beneath him. A through and through was good on one hand. It meant that she didn't have to go digging for the bullet. On the other hand, she had to get to the front and the back of the hole. Sam grunted. "Roll over, okay?"

Gnashing his teeth, Nikolas rolled over onto his side. The blood had stopped trickling out, so that was a plus. With the men around her that managed to get shot/stabbed/maimed in whatever their preferred fashion, Sam was starting to think that she should invest in some kind of medical training. She probably, at least, take a first aid course. But, they had those so early in the morning and she really didn't want to get up. Maybe she would just pay someone at the hospital to teach her what she needed to know.

"This would go a lot smoother if you'd just let me patch you up without talking to me about things that are way more complicated than I would like them to be."

"If I wait until you're done, you'll leave and we won't have the opportunity to talk. I just want to make sure you know what you're doing, what you're getting into, and that this is your choice, not something he's pushing on you."

"And what if it was, huh?" She cleaned the back quicker. She just wanted the area clean enough to slap on a bandage because that doctor really was on the way. When was he going to show up, anyway? "What if I didn't know what I was doing? What would you do, then, huh? Would you lock me in a cave or something?"

"That's an idea I hadn't considered." Nikolas's laugh was labored, but it was still a laugh. If he could find the humor in anything, then he was going to be fine. Sam had to admit that she was worried about him. She had patched up many people in her day, but every time Sam started on someone, she worried that this would be the time that she did something wrong, that this would be the time when she screwed up.

"What had you considered, then?" Sam put the last piece of tape on and Nikolas rolled over. "Because, really, I don't see that there's much that you can do."

"I can talk to you."

"You can talk me out of it, you mean?"

"No, I mean I can talk to you." Nikolas put his hands on his stomach and let out a small groan. "I can talk to you until I have no more words and my breath is gone, but if this is what you want, then it's what you're going to do. There's nothing that I can say to change your mind. But, there is something you can say to change mine."

"Really? And what's that?"

"You can tell me that you won't rush into this blind. You can tell me that you'll talk to him, and you'll talk about everything that's happened. You can tell me that you will look all the decisions made, yours and his, in the eye, and you'll face them. You can tell me… You can tell me that you'll use the good judgment that I know you have inside of you and you will make a real, informed decision."

"I could tell you that and then hitch a ride to Vegas without doing any of it." Yeah, right, like that was going to happen. But, it was a point. She could lie. But…

"I believe that if you tell me that, it'll be the truth. I believe that you won't lie to me."

Sam opened her mouth, then snapped it shut. She could lie to him. She lied a lot, and she did it pretty well when it was a lie that she believed in. She didn't want to lie to Nikolas, though. Even though she didn't want to do the hard stuff, she didn't want to think and have hard conversations about lies, death threats, and anger so deep that it felt like hatred and, sometimes, still felt that way… Even though she only wanted to live in the now and the good and be with Jason pretending like it was how it used to be… Even though…

"Okay," she said. "I'll talk, okay?" Sam pushed herself up from the bed. She clasped her hands in front of her, and then they pushed away from each other. Her arms cascading over and back, falling down at her sides. "I won't do anything permanent, or even semi-permanent, until we've talked, and we've talked about everything. I'll make an informed decision."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me." Sam shook her head and turned as the bedroom door opened. Alfred ushered in a doctor and Sam turned back to Nikolas. "So, uh, yeah, the real doc is here, so I'm gonna go and finish the thing, the big thing, with Jason and then we'll do the other thing, and um… Yeah, I'm gonna go."

Sam beat a hasty retreat and only slowed when she was halfway down the stairs. She had made Nikolas a promise, and she was going to keep it. She would hate every moment leading up to it, and she would probably cry a lot during it, but she was going to keep this promise, and if she was lucky, it would turn out in her favor.


	14. Chapter 14

"Jason." Sam put a hand on his arm before he got out of the car. They were silent as they drove, and it wasn't until they made the definitive turn down Harborview Road that Sam was sure where they were headed. She still said nothing. Now, though, with the car parked and Jason ready to get out, Sam couldn't stay quiet. "Jason, why?"

"It's time that he did something," Jason said. He didn't look at her. He stared out the window, watching the house. Sonny had to know that they were there, was probably waiting for them. He had to have been alerted when they pulled through the gates. "We're not even friends anymore, let alone working together, and without even knowing it, he's still using you and me to do his dirty work. He needs to know, and he needs to take care of his end."

Sam had never seen such anger toward Sonny in Jason's eyes before. She was almost afraid to let him go inside, afraid of what he would do when he and Sonny stood face to face. Sam had often wondered if a point would come where Jason said that enough was enough. It was something to be considered, but never taken seriously. He and Sonny always made up in the end, just like he and Carly were never anger at one another for too long. Looks like she was wrong. There was a point where enough was enough, and this was it.

A part of her felt bad. This was because of her family, her problems. She had come between Sonny and Jason, and if she admitted it to herself, she would have to say that she came between them, again. Jason had stood by her when she was pregnant, ready to face Sonny down, take the child and raise her as his own. Knowing how Sonny felt about his children, or more accurately, the claiming of his children, Sam knew there was no way that set well with him. They had overcome that, though, and Sam liked to believe that—

Actually, no, she didn't like to believe that. She didn't want to think that, yet again, Jason was going to bow out and let Sonny off the hook. She wanted Jason to stand up for himself, for what he believed in. He deferred to Sonny for too long, and it was time for Jason to stand up to him. He knew it, and Sam knew it. He had already begun doing that when he refused to give Sonny back his organization. He could do it again. The children were far more important to Jason than the business.

"It's not your fault, Sam." She turned to Jason with her eyes wide, her lips parted. It was one of those things that was so hard to explain, that she hadn't even thought of when she tried to rationalize her love of Jason to Nikolas. She'd said nothing, only squeezed his arm, and still Jason knew exactly what she was thinking.

"It's not your fault," he said again. "This was a long time coming. I just—Loyalty to Sonny is all I've ever really known. I think I'm afraid of a life where I'm not loyal to him."

Sam didn't know what to say to that. One of Jason's best qualities was his loyalty. When he believed in you, he stood by you. Of course, there was a time when he hadn't stood by her, but-- Sam shook those thoughts away. Those were things to be said another time, and when she actually brought them up and they sat down for their talk, she would admit to herself that Nikolas was right. They definitely needed to talk. If they didn't, those thoughts would always come to Sam's mind, and she'd never be able to truly move forward.

"What happens after, Jason?" Sam held on to his arm, but not with a tight grip. He could have taken his arm away at any time. He allowed Sam to talk to him, to keep him there. "There are two options here, Jason. I mean, he could see reason, which we both know is uncommon for Sonny, and do what you want him to do. He could also blow you off and get on his high horse. Either way, what comes next?"

"I guess that depends on what he decides to do. If he takes care of Anthony…" He shrugged. "I haven't really thought that far. I just want the kids to be safe." Jason was silent for a few beats, long enough for Sam to think that the conversation was over and they were headed inside. Then, when she was ready to pull her hand away, he said, "Your mother doesn't like me."

Well… that was a different direction. Sam's mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I have messed up a lot, Sam, but I've always done what I thought was best where the kids were concerned," he said, "all of the kids. I know Molly isn't Sonny's daughter, but she deserves protection, too. She's been thrown in this as much as Kristina, Michael, and Morgan. I try to keep them safe, but I still represent that danger because of what I do, and even though I think Alexis sees that I try to help, she doesn't like the danger."

"Well," Sam said slowly, "no, she doesn't, but I still don't see—"

"Maybe I'm doing this for her," he cut her off. "For you, because of her. I don't know. I just know that things will be easier for you if she's not always trying to remind you that I'm dangerous. I think a part of her realizes how hard I'll fight for the kids, and for you. That's why she called me when you were leaving. She knew I'd go with you, to protect you."

"I don't need you to protect me, Jason. I mean, it's nice that you do. It's nice to know that you're there if I need the backup, but I don't automatically need it."

"I know that, but that doesn't mean I'll stop wanting to take care of you." Yet another thing they needed to talk about. Sam felt better than she had in years these last few months. She was sustaining herself again. She wasn't just Jason Morgan's girlfriend. She had a purpose. Sam didn't want to go back to the way things were, not completely.

Jason shook his head and he finally pulled away. "We're going inside." He got out of the car and Sam followed. She wasn't even sure why she had to be there. She may have been the one that found the trail that led back to the Zaccharas, but Jason was there when the confession came out. She was not comfortable going there, but Jason had been there for her, standing under the scrutinizing eye of her cousin. She could stand there and look Sonny in the eye.

As much as she didn't want to be there, though, part of her really did want to see Sonny's reaction. She wanted to hear his excuses and she wanted to see Jason put his foot down. She wanted to be present for the Port Charles event of the year, when Jason Morgan finally, truly laid down the law that would stick. The last couple of times hadn't exactly worked, but this time, Sam thought he would pull it off.

The door opened for them easily. Sonny was waiting in the living room, standing beside the bar with a glass in his hand. "I don't think this is a social visit," Sonny said as he knocked back his drink. He put the glass on the bar, then walked away. Sam felt relief fill her. At least he was away from the barware. He wouldn't be throwing glasses.

"Before I say anything else, you have to tell me that you didn't know what Anthony was up to," Jason said. "It makes things a lot better for all of us if you didn't know."

"As far as I know, Anthony Zacchara is still sitting around, trying to find a good way to take me out so he can put his boy back in position."

Jason closed his eyes, took in a deep breath. The anger radiated off of him in scalding waves. Sam had her own anger going on. Leave it to Sonny to be selfish. Even with his son in a coma after taking a bullet meant for him, Sonny didn't think about what his enemies would do to those around him. He didn't even think about it until after it was all over and he had to deal with the consequences of his inactions. No wonder Alexis tried to keep him away from Kristina. Sure, it was Helena this time, someone who would have come after Alexis on her own, but if it weren't for Sonny's enemies, she'd have never gotten as close as she had. Plus, there was a huge difference between the dangers. Sonny actively put his children in danger. Alexis's only crime was being born and being hidden when Alexis killed her mother.

Jason's eyes opened and Sam almost took a step back. She didn't want to be anywhere near him when he exploded, and he looked like that explosion was simmering just beneath the surface. "You have no idea." Jason's voice was steady, measured. He was trying not to blow up.

"What are you talking about? What has Anthony done?"

"You should know what he's done, Sonny. It's your organization, and you know that he's gunning for you. You were so eager to get back in, to be the guy you used to be, that you didn't even think about the people around you."

"Would you just tell me what happened without the lecture?"

"Helena was back," Sam told him. Jason was too angry, he wouldn't just come out with it, but Sam was more than willing to throw it at him. She hadn't thought this was a great idea back in the car, but now, standing there with Sonny completely aloof, Sam wanted him to know. "Helena was back with the help of Anthony Zacchara, and if Jason and I hadn't found out when we did, all of the children would be gone right now. Not just Spencer, but Molly and Kristina, too. I know you don't give a damn about my cousin or my other sister, but you should at least care about your own." Of course, he could have cared about Molly, too, since she was his niece, his flesh and blood, but those bonds only counted, apparently, when he'd actively made the child.

"What do you mean Helena was back?" Sonny asked. "You took care of her?" Sam wished she could tell what he was feeling about it. Sonny had one face, a mask that covered all of his emotions. He could be breaking inside, or he could just not give a damn. She hated not knowing.

"Yeah, we took care of her," Jason told him, "and now it's your turn to take care of Anthony. I'm not your enforcer anymore, Sonny. I'm not really your anything, am I? I wouldn't let you play games with me, using me as a placeholder when you want to play at being legit, so you went against me. Then, you decided that you were still somehow in charge and you were going to tell me what to do. We're not partners, if we ever really were, Sonny. We're not even friends."

"That was your decision," he said with ice in his voice.

"No, it was yours!" The burst came so quickly, so unexpectedly, that Sam jumped. Up until then, Jason had been calm, steady, the example of why Spinelli called him Stone Cold. That one sentence, though, had broken through the ice and Jason let go. "It's always your decision, you always get the choice!"

Sam stepped forward tentatively. She didn't think Jason would go for a gun or anything. She more expected him to charge forward in a blur and pummel Sonny with his bare hands. Sam stepped up next to him and put a hand on his arm. He didn't look down at her, but she felt his body attempt to relax, and his voice calmed. He didn't scream when he spoke again.

"You don't get a choice, now, Sonny. You get a directive. Take care of Anthony. You have twenty-four hours to do it. Without Helena, he's not an immediate threat and he needs to come up with a new plan. You have twenty-four hours, and if he's still alive when those hours are up—" Jason took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You don't want to know what's going to happen if he's not gone."

The two former friends stared at one another, and Sam felt something break in the air. It was as though their friendship was a real, tangible thing, a thick rope hanging in the air between them. It had already started to unravel over the last year or so, but there was still one strand of twine that was trying to stay in one piece, trying to hold them together. Sam could almost hear the twang as the last piece of their friendship snapped under the pressure. She could feel it whip in the air. Sonny and Jason were over. Maybe it made her a bad person, maybe not, but honestly… if Sam felt anything about that at all, she was glad. For Jason's sake, she could only be glad that he was free.


	15. Chapter 15

Sam's eyes had kept darting back over to Jason no matter how much she tried to keep them on the road ahead of them. He'd been silent as a grave the entire ride from Sonny's. Now that they'd arrived at the penthouse, he didn't show any signs of opening up any time soon. Not that she blamed him.

She just hoped Spinelli was elsewhere. She knew how to handle Jason's moods, she wasn't sure the hacker wouldn't end up getting his feelings hurt, and that would only manage to make matters worse. Jason would feel like shit afterwards and then…

Sam snorted. Then, she thought, as though she was expecting something to happen. She knew where her mind was going. _…then the mood would be ruined and there would be no love making that night_. Great way to keep a promise, there, and to be honest, the more Sam thought about the promise she'd made to her cousin, the more she wanted to keep it, not just for Nikolas, but herself, too. She had to know that things weren't going to end up the way it had been. She had to know that things would be different.

They entered the penthouse, and everything was quiet. Sam listened for signs of Spinelli, but there were none. Of course, that didn't mean he wasn't there. Spinelli had a bad habit of popping up at the most inopportune times. She wanted to call out to him, but she felt uncomfortable breaking the silence. This wasn't Sam's home anymore, and she didn't get to change the atmosphere. If words were to be spoken, Jason would have to say them.

Sam didn't really know what she would have said, anyway, other than calling out for Spinelli. What did one say to a man who had just ended the longest friendship of his life, who had given up the brother that he had chosen so many years ago? If Jason wanted to talk about Sonny, then Sam would listen, but she had no idea how to broach that subject herself. Again, it would be left up to him.

Maybe he didn't even want to talk to her about it. He'd probably call up Carly. He'd have to tell her everything, anyway. Sam winced at just the thought of Carly. There was a closeness between Carly and Jason that Sam would never be able to have with him. She was jealous, always had been and always would be. She'd never admit it to anyone other than herself, though, and even that was admitting it too much for her liking. She couldn't fight it, though. Carly and Jason shared something that caused more jealousy than Elizabeth ever had. The only thing that made it safer was that Sam was almost positive that nothing would ever actually happen between Carly and Jason. That made her feel a little better.

"Spinelli's not here," Jason said. His voice coming out of the silence made Sam jump. Her eyes, once staring past Jason, just off into the distance, now focused on him. "He went somewhere with Maxie and Lulu, something to do with Crimson."

Sam nodded. "Oh," she said. "Um, that's… yeah." She nodded her head again, because she really didn't know what else to do. "I should probably…" Sam let her words trail off, but she jerked a finger toward the door, half-turned her body as if making to leave.

"Sam, wait, don't—" As much as she wanted things between them to change, there was one thing that Sam wished had stayed the same, one thing that she wanted exactly the way it used to be. There used to be an ease between her and Jason. They knew each other's thoughts most of the time, and when they didn't, sharing those thoughts was easy. Conversation wasn't hard. Interaction was easy. Sam wanted that back and could only hope that it would come to them eventually.

"I—" Jason's mouth opened and closed. He stepped toward her, and with every step, Sam thought he was going to say something, but words never came. As he drew closer, Sam felt her body tense, her breath catch in her throat. He had that look in his eyes, the same one she'd seen in the hotel when she had pulled back from him. He wanted her, and God, she wanted him. Sam wanted to crawl inside of him and feel the protective warmth that came from burying herself so deeply inside of Jason that nothing and no one could touch her.

That was wrong, though. She knew that. She lost herself in him last time, and when it was over, there was hardly anything of Sam McCall left. She did a lot of bad things without Jason, hurtful things, because she couldn't survive without him. She didn't care who she hurt, not even herself, as long as she could have him back. Sam couldn't be that person again. She needed substance after Jason. She needed life.

Her mind knew what was right, and her brain screamed at her to stop, hold on, push away, but when Jason's hands cupped her face, she couldn't help but sink into his hold. When his lips came down and crushed hers, she moved with it, parting her lips enough to taste his breath. His tongue darted in and out, quick hello and goodbye, a remembering taste, a welcome home. Her arms wrapped around his waist and she moaned into his mouth. This was what she wanted. This was part of what she had missed.

Jason's hands fell from her face and moved to her hips. He lifted her up and before her legs could go around his waist, she was on the desk, perched at the edge. Jason pushed her back and something scraped against the hard wood as it was moved back. Folders fell to the floor. Sam could hear papers rustling as they fluttered to the ground. The world was filled with sensations. She heard, felt, tasted, but she didn't see. Sight was unnecessary, right up until Jason's mouth left hers and she opened her eyes.

There it was again, the look from the hotel, but this one—This was that look when his hands hovered at the sides of her head. She watched him now, let her eyes be the organ of pleasure. She watched as hands came toward her. Watched his sparkling blue eyes as he positioned his hands on either side of his head. She felt the static electricity from the touch that she knew wouldn't come. His hands would stay right there and that meant he loved her. Even if they were both too afraid to say it out loud, too afraid of what it could do to them, to the moment, it was in his eyes. He loved her.

His lips fell on hers and Sam felt something explode deep inside of her. This is right, the explosion told her. This is what you've been waiting for. This—This is what makes everything worthwhile. Things were done wrong, but they can all be fixed. It can all be made right this moment, and it'll be right forever.

Then Sam's brain kicked in and she pushed away. Jason stared at her with shock. Sam took that moment to slide off the desk and step away. She backed up until she hit the door, and then she stayed there. "Jason—" She shook her head. "No, no, no, no. God, I want this to be yes, yes, yes, but it can't be. Not like this. I can't let this happen."

"I don't understand."

"Of course, you don't understand. You didn't make a promise, and you didn't convince yourself that the promise was true. He was right, Jason," Sam said with a nervous laugh. "Nikolas was right!"

"What? What does Nikolas have to do with this?"

"He has everything to do with this, because he knew—How does he know these things? I'm pretty sure it's a Cassadine thing that I haven't learned yet, but he knew. He knew that it would happen and I'd lose it all and I can't let it happen, Jason, I won't."

"You won't let what happen? Sam, you have to tell me what's going on, because really, I don't get it."

"You don't—" She stopped, put her hands to her face. Why couldn't this be easy? Why— Sam let her hands fall and said, "We can't do this without talking, Jason, because I can't lose myself in you again. I won't."

She forced her eyes to meet his, but Sam didn't leave the door. "When we were together," she said, "that's all there was. I was Jason Morgan's girlfriend, and when we broke up, I wasn't Jason Morgan's girlfriend, anymore. I was nobody. I didn't know who I was because I let myself become so connected to you. I did things-- I paid that guy to intimidate Elizabeth, and I didn't even care who was with her or what would happen. Why? Because all that I wanted was to get you back. I didn't even think of myself, because I didn't exist without you."

"I want you to exist without me, Sam. You—You've made your own life and I don't want you to lose that. You're a person, Sam, and that's what I've always liked about you. You don't end with me."

"Except I did," she told him. "I ended and it took me too long to get that back. I can't do it again."

"Whatever I did to make that happen, I'm sorry. I just—I do what feels right, but if I'm wrong… If I'm doing something, tell me. We can make it work this time, and it doesn't have to be like it was. It's something new. We're new, different people now, Sam."

"I know, but we're still the same people, too. We're just…" She didn't even know what she was saying. What she did know was that she was ignoring the very thing that needed to be said. Sam took in a deep breath, steeled herself for what she would hear. The truth was there, and though she was pretty sure she knew the answer, she didn't really want to hear it. She didn't want there to really be that huge of a fault with him.

"You said…" Sam gulped hard. Shit. She brought it up, though. She mentioned it, so she was going to have to go on with it. "You said you'd kill me. When you found out and you had me pinned against he wall… Would you have really done it? Did I mean so little to you?"

"Sam…" He didn't answer, but it was in his eyes. Why was there so much in his eyes tonight when, for so long, she had often found those eyes unreadable. "I felt horrible after," he said, "later, when I really thought about it. In that moment, I hated you."

"It scares me that you have that in you. I see us having an argument, and I know myself. I'm petty. I'd throw that in your face and you'd react—" She wished she could unsee it, but she couldn't. She could see him hitting her, maybe even choking her and… "I was never afraid of you before, Jason, but that… That made me afraid, and deep down, that fear is always going to be there."

He was hurt, and that's not what Sam wanted to do to him. Sure, there was a time when she'd done everything she could to hurt him. Isn't that why she told Lucky about Jake's paternity? She hadn't really cared about Lucky knowing the truth or Elizabeth getting in trouble. She just wanted to see pain in Jason's eyes. He would never be afraid of her, and that was the only way she could pay him back for the fear he had put in her.

"I don't know what to say except I'm sorry. When I calmed down, I hated myself for it. I never—You were an enemy, Sam. In my mind, you had no gender. You weren't a woman. You were simply the enemy. I never want to look at you that way again."

Sam wanted to put it all on him, ask him how she could be sure he would never do that again, see her that way again, but Sam knew that she had a part in it. She had put herself in a position to be seen as an enemy. They went back and forth with the wrongs until all of it exploded. She couldn't just ask Jason to change because he wasn't the only one who needed to change. Sam needed to do things differently, too.

"I hated you so much after that." Thinking about it made the anger rise, made heat flush her body. "To know that I meant so little to you, to know that… God, you threw me away like I was trash! You told me over and over again that we had to wait, because it was so damn dangerous, and you waited until it was too late. And then Elizabeth… Why was it too dangerous for me? Why wasn't it dangerous for her?"

"I was stupid. I was actually thinking when it came to you, Sam. I was thinking about going through everything again and I was thinking about Michael—"

"You didn't think about any of that with her!"

"No, I didn't, and when I did think about it, I gave Jake away. I just… in the moment, there was only feeling. I remembered what it was like when Michael was a baby and he depended on me."

"So, what? I'm safe now? I can't have children, so it's okay. And what if I had gotten pregnant before Manny shot me? Would you have made me give our baby away? Would you have pushed me away the same way that my mom pushes Sonny away from Kristina?"

Jason winced. This close to his ultimatum, his threat, comparing him to Sonny was a punch to the gut, but it was a punch that he deserved. "It was different with us. I'd have loved our baby," he told her. "Elizabeth and I… I don't know. We were a fantasy, something that never happened but… I don't know. The idea of it all just—"

"You wanted a baby to love and I couldn't give that to you. I can't give that to you. That's what I am, Jason. And I… Yeah, I admit it." Again, she had to admit her own faults. "I was too caught up in wanting to be a mother. I wanted to fill that hole and I went crazy with it. But still—She was able to give you something that I can't give you. So does that make me safe, now? It's okay because with her you had to worry and with me you don't?"

"It's not about a baby, Sam. It's never been about a baby. You had this idea that without a baby, we'd never be complete."

"You were going to leave me when you found out. That's why you didn't tell me."

"That's just—Sam, think about it! Wouldn't I have told you if I was going to leave? I was going to stay with you. You're the one—You should have come to me when you found out."

"You should have told me in the first damned place!"

The anger was on both sides now, and it was anger with each other as well as anger with themselves. There was so much that neither of them would think about, so much wrong done on both sides that they were ignoring. Now, they couldn't ignore it. Everything was in the open, the feelings, the hurt, the anger.

Sam took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Better to have it all out there now, right? The fact that they were standing there talking, that Sam hadn't left yet and Jason hadn't thrown her out, proved that there was more here than just a need for sex. They were having it out because they wanted to be together, they wanted to make this work. But, to do that, they had to work on themselves. They had to work with their individual guilt and faults.

"We can't go back there, Jason." Sam took it away for the anger. She took it away from the specifics and brought it back around to the center of everything. "We have to work on ourselves, which is just another reason that I can't fall into you, that I can't let myself be a part of you so deeply. I can't work on myself if there is no self to work on."

"I'll do what I have to do. To have you back… Sam, I'd do anything."

"I want it all back, Jason. I want to be able to talk to you when something's going on, or just talk to you because nothing's going on. I want you to look at me the way you're looking at me right now, like you trust me and you need me. I want us back, but I want an us that still leaves room for you and me."

"We can do that. We just have to try." He took a step forward, then another, and Sam almost opened the door and went outside. She could hail a taxi to the docks and call the launch to take her back to Spoon Island. She didn't leave, though. Sam stayed and watched him come closer and closer.

"Jason—"

"I need you, Sam," he said, his voice soft, a brush of velvet against her cheek. "I want whatever us will get you back to me."

"I don't know…"

"We talked. We said the hardest things that we had to say to each other. It's all out there." He was in front of her now, so close they could touch, and they did touch. Jason's hand came up, his fingers brushed against her cheek. "Now, we can soften those words, and in the morning, we do what we do best."

"And what's that?"

"We finish what we started, and we show everyone that, when we're together, we're one hell of a force to be reckoned with."

Sam felt the smile crossing her lips, stretching her mouth. They were one hell of a couple. Sam let her smile lessen, dim just a little. "We are pretty good together," she said, "but this isn't the end of it. An incomplete argument doesn't make everything alright, Jason. It just means that we know the problem. We still have to work on it."

"I'll work on it. We'll work on it. There's a great couple somewhere in us, Sam. We owe it to ourselves to find out way to it."

She looked into his eyes and said so softly, "Do you love me, Jason?"

"Yes," he said, his voice a hush, a whisper in the room. "Do you love me?"

A shaky breath fell from her lips. "More than common sense tells me I should," she said, and then she reached up on the tips of her toes and kissed him.


	16. Chapter 16

Nikolas's color was closer to normal than it had been the last she'd seen him. That was a good thing. What wasn't such a good thing was the way he was looking at her, as though he could see into her brain and read her very thoughts. Yeah, she'd been a good girl, but good going by Sam's standards might not be good going by Nikolas.

Cassadine exploits or not, he pretty much held her to puritanical standards. But he was family and that was good as far as she was concerned. Even with him giving her a look she knew Spencer would grow to loathe.

"I did what you asked," she said as she sat on the arm of the sofa. A raised eyebrow from her cousin made her slide down to a cushion. "Too bad you didn't do what I know the doctor told you to do, which is rest."

Nikolas sat leaning back on the sofa, computer perched on his lap. The Cassadine prince was much better at giving directives than he was at taking them. Nikolas closed his laptop and gave a small grunt as he leaned forward to put it on the table. He leaned back again and his hand fell to his side. He grunted again.

"I'm perfectly fine," he said. Sam snorted. His color was better, but it wasn't especially healthy enough to equate to being perfectly fine. "Everyone will be home tomorrow, and I need to be myself again when they arrive. Nadine will hover, as will Alexis, and the least I can do is attempt to put them at ease."

"Uh huh." Sam rolled her eyes. She un zipped her boots and placed them on the floor beside the sofa. She pulled her feet up, crossing her legs and tucking her feet in. "You should be in bed, resting. You were shot, Nikolas." It was a damn good thing that Sam felt no desire to "win over" Nadine, because she was pretty sure that the pretty blonde was going to be less than excited that Sam let Nikolas get shot. Oh well. Sam could see where she was coming from, but it wasn't like she could do anything about it.

"Nadine is a nurse. She'll make sure that I'm fine." With a little bit of effort, Nikolas turned toward her. "And you are changing the subject, and I believe it's a subject that you actually brought up."

Sam grunted. "Whatever." This whole Jason thing was confusing. She had stopped before things went too far. They had talked, and that was the important thing. What did it matter that after the talk, when she kissed him, she almost hadn't stopped. Jason wanted it, wanted her, and if Sam didn't stop, he wouldn't have, either. She didn't know if he would have regretted it the next morning, but Sam certainly would have. Talking was great, but had anything really been settled? There had been anger and putting horrible thoughts and feelings out there, but that's all it was. They both grew too angry to really solve anything.

Sam was rather proud of herself, though. She kissed him, yes. She even let it go so far as the two of them making it to the stairs and halfway up. They didn't, however, make it to the bedroom, and that was cause for celebration. Sex right then… Sam would have let herself forget everything she felt while she was talking to Jason, and it wouldn't have come up again until they had an argument, and then… Well, Sam was pretty sure that would have been the end of everything.

"So, you and Jason talked."

"Yes, we talked," Sam said. "We got a lot of things out in the air, things neither of us really wanted to say to the other."

"And?"

"And…" She grumbled and felt like a child. Why did she have to explain herself to him, anyway? Oh, that's right, because he was family, and he had her best interest at heart. That was the only reason that she even gave him a little, let alone the whole shebang. Nikolas loved her, he didn't want her hurt. He wasn't doing this to keep her from having what she wanted. Sam felt that he was doing this to make sure she got exactly what she wanted.

"Sam?"

"And we decided that we'd work on it, that we would talk more later."

"Which means the two of you …"

"Did nothing, alright?" Sam let out a heavy breath. "Okay, so we were going to do something, but I stopped it, both times, before we talked and after. It just… It wasn't the right time. You were right, okay? There were things that needed to be said, and if Jason and I are going to really make this work, there are still things that need to be said."

"But, the two of you are going to work on it." He seemed almost relieved, like that was just what he wanted, which left Sam slightly confused. She chose to believe that Nikolas just wanted all the hurtful things said so that she and Jason could clear the air between them, but there was a part of her that believed he wanted them said so she could stay as far away from Jason as possible. Why was he relieved that they were going to work things out?

"Look," she said, "you are a master at being cagey and mysterious and all that, but for once, could you really just be straight with me? What are you after in all of this? Why do you care so much, one way or another? And which way do you care, anyway?"

"I care because you're my family, Sam. Don't get me wrong," Nikolas told her, "I would be perfectly happy if you and Jason Morgan never saw one another again." Sam opened her mouth to protest, but Nikolas put up a hand to stop her. "That being said, I know that's not what you want, and I've learned that what you want is most important. I've been there, having your life planned for you, manipulated for you, and it doesn't breed love. It only breeds content and bad feelings."

"Is that what your uncle did to you?"

"I know his heart was in the right place. He wanted what was best for me, but he never really believed that I knew what was best for me. I am doing my best not to turn into Uncle. If you think that Jason is best for you, then I am only doing what is necessary to make sure that you have your happiness. You can't have that happiness if there's no communication. He hurt you." Anger flared and swept across his face, but Nikolas buried it quickly. Had Sam not been looking at him in that moment, she would have missed the expression.

"He hurt you," Nikolas said again, "but you are willing to forgive that. Will I forgive it? Probably not, but I can push it down as long as you need me to push it down. If he loves you…"

"He does," Sam said quickly. "He loves me, and I love him."

"If he loves you, then you deserve to share in that love. You've gotten all of the bad things in the air, and if they haven't scared the two of you from one another, then there's a chance."

Softly, Sam said, "There's a chance for you and Nadine, too." Nikolas turned his head to the side and Sam said, "Don't, Nikolas. Just… She loves you, and while you may not be able to say it now, you know that you feel deeply enough for her that one day you'll be able to say it. If I can have love again, then so can you."

He turned back to her and said, "So, your advice is the same as I've given you?"

"Talking helps, Nikolas. You proved that with Jason and me. You need to tell Nadine how you're feeling, your fears—"

"I am not afraid."

"Oh, come on!" Sam almost laughed. The bubble made it to her throat before she pushed it back down. She knew her cousin well enough to know that he wouldn't take very kindly to her laughing at him. When she was sure that laughter wasn't going to come out instead of words, she said, "You're afraid to lose someone again. You're afraid to give yourself over to love, again. Believe me, I know. That's probably why—"

Sam paused. She hadn't thought about it too much. She just figured that she and Lucky never worked out because they weren't meant to work out. They were both each other's rebounds, and worse than that, they were each other's revenge. The two people they loved most had betrayed them with each other, so they would do the same. Maybe there was more to it than that, though.

"I was pretty sure that I wouldn't give anything of myself again after Jason and I broke up, and so I never thought of Lucky as more than someone to blunt the pain and as a way to get back at Jason and Elizabeth. I have no intention of ever asking him, but I'm pretty sure that he felt the same way. And now, look how things have turned out? We're both… I guess you could say we're back where we were supposed to be all along."

"I can't really go back to anywhere or anyone, Sam."

"I know that," she told him, "but you could move on. You can move on with Nadine." Sam reached out and squeezed his hand. "Trust me, Nikolas. I trusted you, and look where it got me."

He smiled at her, small, just a tiny upturn of the corner of his mouth, but it was still a smile. "Cousin, you don't really have the best of judgment."

"I'm getting better," she said. Sam winked at him. "Anyway, I just came by to see how you were doing and to tell you that you were right, as I'm sure you already knew you would be."

"I do have faith in my advice."

"I know." Sam shook her head. "But yeah, I have to run. Jason and I… We have one more piece of business to take care of, and then everything will be alright, at least for a little while. We live in Port Charles. Things can't stay great for too long, can they?"

"Sam, we're Cassadines. We could live anywhere in the world, and things wouldn't stay great for too long. It's the curse of our family. We're haunted by bad luck."

"It's not so bad," she told him. Sam squeezed his hand one good time, then pulled back. She bent to put her boots back on, and when both were zipped, she stood up. Sam looked down at Nikolas and smiled. "We may have bad luck, but at least we have it together, as a family. Trust me, Nikolas, that's a lot better than having it all by yourself."


	17. Chapter 17

_**A/N: **Finally, here it is, the last chapter of Dangerous. I apologize that this has taken so long. Between work getting a big hectic and NaNoWriMo, I haven't had the chance to finally finish this story. Thanks to everyone who reviewed/added as a favorite/etc. I'm glad that you've enjoyed the story._

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"I don't know," Sam said. "This seems a little anticlimactic." Sam sat on a bench, looking out at the docks. She told Jason to meet her there, instead of going to either of their homes. It was safer that way. They were less likely to compromise one another. Despite all she had said to Nikolas, all she had said to Jason, she was still somewhat unsure of what their relationship should be.

"You wanted more danger?"

Sam laughed. "No." She paused then said, "Maybe, yeah. I mean, after the big thing with Helena, I didn't think the entire thing would be over without me taking care of every single thing myself, ya know?"

"Sometimes, you don't have to do it all yourself, Sam."

Sam didn't laugh this time, but she almost did. Jason telling someone they didn't have to do it themselves? That was rich. He was the one that always wanted to do it himself. He had to take care of everyone. He had to take care of everything. With as much time as Sam had spent around him, wasn't it likely that Sam had picked up on some of his traits?

"You trust that he took care of it? That he really did it and wasn't just saying it?"

Jason was quiet as he stared out at the water. Though it was the middle of the afternoon, the water was still dark. The sun was hidden behind the clouds, and there was nothing to light the water. It looked dark and murky and cold.

"I know he took care of it," Jason said with a sigh. He didn't elaborate, and Sam didn't ask him to elaborate. He probably wouldn't tell her, anyway. Jason was a protector, and that meant protecting Sam from possible arrest. Jason knew where the body was buried, may have even seen it. He was long beyond taking Sonny's word for anything anymore.

"Now what?" Sam asked him. She turned away from the water and looked at Jason. He was still staring out, and Sam admired his profile. Strong chin and nose, smooth skin. He sat so still he might as well have been a statue. Birds could land on his shoulder and he probably wouldn't have moved.

"Now," Jason said, "I don't know." His head turned slowly until his eyes met hers. He looked so… lost. He truly didn't know what he was going to do, what he should do. He had so much history with Sonny. To be irrevocably on the other side of him—

"There's no going back is there?" Sam asked, her voice low.

"Not for—" Jason paused. He didn't have to say it. He had given ultimatums, threats. There was no going back for Jason and Sonny. They were enemies now. Sam wondered if he thought about what that really meant, then realized that he obviously thought about it and instead wondered how often he thought about it. War was inevitable now. Sonny wasn't the kind of guy who would let something like this lie. If he had killed Anthony, then he'd done so because Jason forced him to do it. Sonny Corinthos did not take orders well. Yeah, war was on the horizon in Port Charles and Sam just hoped that it was one that Jason could survive both physically and emotionally.

"It's over," Jason said with a shake of his head, "and that's that. The threat is over and there's nothing else to say about it. As for you and me—" Jason let it dangle out there and Sam let it float through her head.

Wasn't this what she wanted? She had argued so hard with Nikolas over it, and even harder with herself. She wanted Jason back. Even in the face of danger, with thoughts of an eventual war swirling in her head, Sam wanted Jason. She wanted the openness they once had between them. She missed the way he would come in and lay things down before her, actually ask her opinion on them. She missed sitting in front of the fire with him on a cold night, the table littered with Chinese takeout boxes. She wanted to go to bed with him again and sleep with her head resting on his chest.

"In the end," she said, "it's really up to me, isn't it?"

"I laid it all out for you, Sam," he told her. "I told you how I felt, and I'm not the one that stopped us last night. So yeah, Sam, it's up to you in the end. After you've slept on it, after we've said some of the hardest things we could say, do you still want this?"

Sleeping on it had been hard, because her last thoughts before sleep weren't of kissing or Jason's hands on her waist as he lifted her up onto the desk. Her last thoughts had been all of the things that she was still angry about, all of the mistrust that was so hard to throw away, on both sides. She thought of fights they could have in the future and all of the ammunition that they had both given each other in those arguments. They were too liars that protected themselves at all cost. It could all turn so tragic,

But, when she woke, that's when her mind went to the kiss, the touching. She rolled over and part of her mind expected Jason to be there. She reached out to the side and felt her chest tighten when she realized that he wasn't there, that he could have been there, but she had made sure that he wouldn't be there. Sam had rolled onto her stomach and thought about fairy tales and loves that could last forever. She thought of the people she knew who had lost love and the few she knew who had managed to salvage that love. She thought of Nikolas trying so hard not to love Nadine and wondered if she could do the same, if she could convince herself that she didn't love Jason because it would only lead to heartache.

That's when Sam got up and went to see her cousin. It was really one last test to see if she was right, or if she was just holding on to some kind of hope, if she had watched too many romantic comedies and Disney love stories with her sisters and let herself be corrupted by the smiles, the laughs, the Hollywood fairy tales.

She won, didn't she? Even in the face Nikolas's scrunity and negativity, she had been able to hold firm. She loved Jason and he loved her. Those words had come out and there was no taking them back. Sam couldn't look in Jason's eyes and say that she didn't love him. That was a lie that Sam was not ready to tell. That was one of Jason's bad habits that she had not yet picked up, and one that she hoped would never make its way to her.

"I love you," Sam said. She reached out and pressed her palms flat against his cheeks. "There's a part of me that wishes I didn't, that I was strong enough to walk away from you and never look back, but I can't do it. I love you and, after I've slept on it, I still love you. So yeah, Jason, I still want this."

Words were never Jason's strong point, and as his lips landed on hers, Sam was glad that he didn't talk too much. Everything that needed to be said about his feelings for her was in his kiss, in the way his hands came up and hovered on either side of her head, close enough for Sam to feel the heat of his hands.

Sam pulled back enough to look in his eyes. She still held his face and his hands still hovered. She looked for the same gaze she remembered, but she saw more. She saw a promise to try harder, to make it work this time. She saw a future there that was more promising than any she had ever imagined before. Sam let her hands fall, then pushed herself to her feet. Jason's hands brushed her shoulders, her arms as they she moved up and his arms moved down.

She reached out and said, "Let's go." Jason took her hands and stood up. He winked at her and asked, "Your place or mine?"

Sam thought about it a second, then smiled. "Surprise me."


End file.
